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Update 1: The Tutorial I will be running Lash's English Patch + Jin Yong Skill Books and Animation Mod. Jin Yong, or Louis Cha, was possibly the best-selling wuxia author of all time, and the mod also puts many of his novel's skills in the world to spice exploration up a little. If a sutra seems overly OP, it's probably from the mod. You also have to activate the translation mod by subscribing to the mod, launching the game, and selecting the 2nd option from bottom. It says "Module Selection" now, but it was Chinese text before.  For the purposes of showing off the tutorial, I have created a disposable character named Steve McGoon. I intend to let the thread suggest and vote for their own character, so character creation and mechanics will follow in the next post.   Ahhh!Alas, there is no real customization available, so Steve is stuck with being a generically handsome Asian man.  Poor Steve's first taste of this world is a mouthful of dirt.  Ow ow ow... am I finally back?If you can read the unrealistically tiny text in the screenshot, what he is actually saying is "Pain pain pain... is it back at last?" I have edited the text to make things clearer, but if you prefer the original text, do let me know.  Hahaha... Although it's a little sad to say goodbye to my friends from the ancient era, I'm glad to return to the embrace of modern technology!As I said in the OP, this is apparently the main character's second go round. I want to say he is from Tales of Wuxia, but I don't know if that makes this game a sequel or just fanfiction.  ... Huh? This... What the hell is this place? Wait wait wait, shouldn't I be back at my house, at the computer? Where am I? Is this some sort of prank? Nan Xian, Bei Chou, Chef Lim and that betel nut chewer Kong?I assume that these are all characters from the previous game. Betel nuts are a mild stimulant popular in Taiwan, which I believe the developers are based in.  How do I get home from here? Now where do I go? Ugh...Never mind, there's no point in sighing, let me figure out where I amIn the interests of keeping this post to a slim 59 images, I will not take a screenshot of literally every line of text. Hmm... it looks quite similar to the temple I came from... so this is a temple too? Oh no, am I going to have to unlock this one with 14 Heavenly Manuals too?Am I underground? These statues remind me of those ancient relics in the Forbidden City, but which era am I in now?Hahaha... at least I'm not in some old geezer's basement this time round, how refreshing.Cough... it's really stuffy in here, I should go outside for some air! At this point the game gives us control of the main character, and we immediately turn around and beeline to the obvious puzzle.  The camera pans up to let us admire the decor. Wow! What an eye-opener, such a huge piece of jade actually exists in this world!The owner of this place must have a lot of money to get such a huge piece of jade. There's a big turtle on this one, and on the other...? The camera then pans to the right, to the other huge block of jade A horse with a dragon head? But what could be the meaning of the dots on the body? How is it that a good piece of jade has such a groove in it? And the other one too, am I meant to put something in? Well, based on my years of watching movies and playing games, it looks like all I have to do is put something into these two grooves and the door in the middle will open, yes?It ain't Steve's first rodeo, that's for sure. Haha, such bright talent and enlightened mind! Sometimes I amaze myself.But that means I need to find those two items if I want to leave. This drat game had better be able to be cleared in a week! And no expansion content, you hear me?Now I understand why there is a guide on Steam on how to clear Ho Tu Lo Shu in a week, in-game time. Nevermind, I'll just have to go along with the flow. How long is this gonna take...? And like the seasoned player that he is, Steve decides to ignore the exit and poke around for missable items. Floor nuts! Almost as good as floor chicken!  Steve opens his inventory to show off the betel nut and I completely forget to make him actually eat it. It would have given him 100 MAXHP, bringing him from 321 HP to 421 HP.  Another nut! Why? Alas, all good times must come to an end, and Steve's search for floor nuts brings him into cutscene range. Middle-aged uncle: Hey hey hey, boy, what are you doing? Huh? Where the hell did you come from?No, nevermind that. You came at just the right time, old man! I'm new here, can you tell me what this place is?  You don't have the slightest clue where you are, do you? Just follow me out! Presumably irritated by Steve's gormless look, the middle-aged uncle gives Steve a good smack. I think the coins are a Sonic joke? As you have probably guessed, this game doesn't take itself too seriously. What the hell, old man? I just wanted to ask what this place is, why'd you hit me all of a sudden?Don't move if you don't want to be hurt. I'll capture you and take you to Nan Xian and Xi Pao.Nan Xian? Am I still in the same world?Haha, even the ten martial arts masters were no match for me back then, why should I be afraid of this old man?Old man, although it's a little embarrassing to say so myself, I can take you down with a single move!Oh? Then show me what you can do! Hmmm... how should I take this old man down?-Eat my left hook! -Eat my right hook! -Eat my uppercut! If Steve had been generated with a bit more intelligence, he'd be saying something about Newton's third law. I'm fairly sure he's not dumb, so I must have missed the threshold by a little bit. In any case all the options lead to the same thing.  Steve winds up and takes a swing at the old man, and... (What... what's going on? Why can't I remember a single move?)Kid, is that your kungfu? Just looking at me with a dazed expression?Main story scenes are mostly voiced. I just want to note that he says this in a very hurtful and sarcastic manner. It's hilarious. Err... right! Even if I forget everything else, I won't forget this! WILD CARD PUNCH! ...Huh?Hahahaha! Kid, what kind of useless kungfu are you practicing? Who can you hurt with with rock paper scissors?Nooo... my Wild Card Punch... Just be a good boy and surrender. You outlanders bring nothing but trouble, the He Luo clan can't let you just run around willy-nilly. The He Luo clan? Ouch! I got it, I got it, go easy on me old man! It's not like I came here by choice!Not by choice? How can you be here and not know of the Holy Temple? How dare you try to fool me!Alas, without the River Map and Book of Heaven to seal the Holy Temple's entrances and exits, outlanders will sometimes appear uninvited. drat, what a tough job I have, and who knows when it will end?In case you missed the opening animation, he's talking about the titular Ho Tu and Luo Shu. Book of Heaven? Wait, is your world looking for the Book of Heaven too?Oh, so you know of the Book of Heaven too? That's right, if we still had the Book of Heaven in our hands, it wouldn't be so easy for you outlanders to come to our world.(The Book of Heaven... It might be the key to my return home... I"ll have to find it somehow!)Hey, old man, you said you were looking for the Book of Heaven, right? How about you let me go and I find this book for your He Luo clan?Hah! You think I can't tell what you're planning? You're obviously trying to take advantage of the situation and slip away!Besides, with your kungfu, you want to find the Book of Heaven? Kid, you can't even keep your own life secure.Listen, you're short of manpower, aren't you? Kungfu can be trained, I really do want to help you guys find the Book of Heaven.Well, if you're speaking the truth, I might consider it, but... Found you!!!! Target confirmed. Donghao Kongjin, of the He Luo clan.And the outlander.Capture them both!Hey, old man, who are these people?I should have expected this... I wasn't the only one watching the Holy Temple!Stay out of this, kid. No need to go stirring up trouble.But!Hahaha! Come on, then! You think you can take me? Have a taste of my Thunderbolt Bombs! And with that we're dropped into combat. As you can see, Ho Tu Luo Shu is a turn-based tactical RPG. The initiative order is shown on the top left corner, with green bars for party members, blue bars for allied NPCs and red bars for enemies. Right now Steve has only 5 action points per turn and one not-very-good ability to use, none of which matters because old man Kongjin will be carrying the fight.  You can click on any portrait in the initiative order to hear a soundbite and see their stats. Old man Kongjin has pretty meh stats, but is already Rank 15, and more importantly, has a really OP weapon for this stage of the game. Weapon rarity goes from white, green, blue, purple, to orange, so Thunderbolt does live up to its in-game description: "Pitch-black projectile, unobtrusive in appearance, but contains powerful gunpowder, amazingly powerful."  Alas, it is the technique that determines the area of effect, not the weapon. So this explosion is purely due to the "Eat my thunderbolts!" technique. And to add insult to injury Kongjin even rolled a critical hit - Broken Gold Broken Jade is a talent that increases critical damage.  These Rank 2 mooks equipped with Obsolete Daggers never stood a chance. "A dagger that has been used for many years and not properly maintained, with a blunted blade and limited lethality"  Victory! Phew, it's over. Old man, you use Thunderbolt Bombs?Oh, have you heard of them?Of course I've heard of such a powerful item! I used to have an old friend who used them too!(I'm just worried that throwing those things around in a cave like this might cause a collapse...)Kid, you're surprisingly knowledgeable. It seems that even in another space and time, our Thunderbolts are also famous. But what about these black-clothed people?Tch, what a waste of a Thunderbolt... hey kid, take this!Huh? This is...?Some kind of token, let's take it to Nan Xian, maybe he'll know something.Let's? Uncle Kong, you mean you'll let me help?You could have run just now, kid, but you stayed to help. It was a really strange thing to do, what other choice do I have now? You can help us out a little.Either way, I would still have brought you to meet Nan Xian. Just don't cause me any trouble. Now, let's find a way out of this cave. I'll meet up with that Nan Xian kid at the Gongshi Village. He's been investigating Western Shu for some time, so he must have some information on the location of the Book of Heaven.Just who is this Nan Xian?His real name is Xu Xuke, and he is a poor scholar who loves to play around in his spare time. But I must admit he is good at finding information.All right! We'll probably be followed by those black-clothed guys. Put on this leather jacket first.So you'll be escorting me? Wow! Thank you, Uncle Kong!Hmmph. At least you have some manners, you little brat!I have some sutras here, pick one and learn it!Wow! I can't believe you're being so nice to me!Hmmph. It's because I'm rich. Sweet, Uncle Kong is giving us a free skillbook, or "sutra". Steve chooses the Heartfelt Six-Health Sword sutra, because katanas are a type of sword and are obviously superior to the uncouth Thunderbolt Blade Technique, the plebian Shore Hero's Palm, or worst of all, the dastardly Five Poison Sutra. Seriously, don't pick the Five Poison Sutra.  And with that, Steve gets ready to leave  No wait, we need to loot the bodies first. This one has nothing on it, though.  Jackpot!  Steve dons his new, totally-not-bloodstained costume.  And also starts to study his brand new sutra! Which has strangely been renamed to the Heart Rokugan Sword. This is the first, but not the last time an item or concept is referred to by different names. Steve also cranks the little white bar you see on the right side to High. This means less character XP and slower levels, but more skill XP and eventual power.  And for those of you who noticed the "F" "Steal" prompt and immediately wanted to try it out, shame on you. This man is our savior. And he has a great sense of humor. This is what he says when he catches you stealing the first time. Kid! If you touch my rear end again, I promise I won't kill you!How thirsty are you? Take it! Don't get fresh with me, OK?He gives you a Betel Nut King, which gives, I believe, MAXMP.  Kid! Why don't you stop touching? Here's some money!When you're out of here, find time to go to the Pretty Dream Pavilion to cool off, and don't get interested in me anymore, OK?Sweet, 500 Wen! Eventually though, he runs out of new dialogue Kid, there's some things that can't be forced to come, so don't keep wasting your time, OK? The diligent reader can probably guess what this 6% chance to be stolen item is. And you can absolutely force it to come, since Kongjin doesn't do anything other than complain if he catches you and has no reputation to lose. It will just take an hour or so of your time and a significant fraction of your sanity.  Let's skedaddle!  More enemies!Hey! If you blow them up we'll all be buried alive! If I have to I will! I won't let these unknown people get their hands on the Holy Temple! Huff... puff... too much... sitting on sedan chairs...I can feel wind... is this the exit?The exit... of death!drat, when did they get here? Some more banter, and then combat. Steve is shown here regretting not using the betel nuts to increase his max HP.  "Limited lethality" my left foot! Look at the sliver of health Steve has left!  Thankfully Kongjin takes out the other two ninjas without issue. If they'd gotten a turn it would have been game over, man.  These sorry bastards, how can they compare to me? Send as many of them as you like, the result will still be the same! Indeed, it seems that Donghao Kongjin is no ordinary man.Oh shoot, a named NPC with their own portrait! (It's Lan Fuyi for those of you that can't make it out in the blurry screenshot.)  Little girl, are you in charge of these guys? Don't you know I am the guardian of the Holy Temple? How dare you trespass here?Ah... but from now on, the Holy Temple will be under our jurisdiction, so what need do we have for you so-called guardians?Excuse me, elder sister, but who are you?Oh...an outlander? Generally speaking, they should be killed as soon as they are found, so as not to complicate matters. Huh? Hah! (throwing Thunderbolt) *mysterious kungfu poo poo* It didn't work!Hmmm. So this is the famed Thunderbolt of Thunderbolt Hall. There's nothing to be afraid of, as long as you can suppress the force of the impact... Combat!  Steve is in big trouble  But Kongjin's Thunderbolt saves the day!  Sadly it doesn't do poo poo to Lan Fuyi. Steve hastily applies a herbal remedy and tries to GTFO.  That's enough, kid, stop fighting and get out of here! Urgghhh! Tch! Get the hell out of this cave! You know who to talk to, now get the hell out of my sight! Hehehe... I might not be able to hit you directly, but surely I can drop some stones on you, right!Lady Lan! The cave is collapsing! Please retreat!Do you really think this is going to stop us? Hahaha! Not going to run? Then let's keep playing!Eat my Thunderbolts! Hahahaha!!! The cave collapsed... He really...RIP Kongjin. You were too good for this world. Uncle Kong, although we didn't know each other for long, thank you for saving my life. You're much better than the other one I know! In order to return home smoothly, I shall do my best to find those two Books of Heaven, and I hope this will comfort your spirit in Heaven. I remember Uncle saying he was going to meet up with Nan Xian at some village. Gongshi Village? Ah! There seems to be a village there! And here we begin our journey into the world of Ho Tu Lo Shu. I will post some of the mechanics of character creation below, and interested posters may suggest a name and theme afterwards, but for now, the pressing question is, how does Steve get down from this cliff? Please vote for: -left -right -forward sandorius fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Feb 2, 2023 |
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Feb 2, 2023 18:19
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Update 2: Character Creation and Combat Mechanics 2 votes for left, 2 votes for right, and 5 for straight ahead. Good luck, Steve! While Steve Mcgoon contemplates the abyss before him, let us consider if we would like to replace him with a shinier, customised version of Asian Protagonist Guy. If any of you have fond memories of the Ultima games, rejoice! Ho Tu Lo Shu does the "ask questions" thing too! (A great deal of this post comes from the Character Creation Guide by Corinthian Jest on HTLS's Steam page. Thank you for transcribing the results for each question!)  The font used in this game is kind of small and blurry, so for these questions I will be returning to the larger 1920px screenshots so that you can actually read the text.  Q1: Why do you want to enter the world of martial arts? (a) Martial arts is a kind of romance. (b) I don't want to be a single dog anymore. (c) I don't want to be a silk, I want to be a person! (d) What? Is this the martial arts world? (e) Anyway, I am a person everywhere, is it worse? I could edit the options to make more sense, and I will for the remaining questions, but I think a little bit of linguistic suffering is necessary to get the full HTLS experience. (a) is pretty self-explanatory. We're not talking romantic love here, but rather "a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life". (b) is an idiom I recognize and easily translated. Simply replace "single dog" with "lone wolf", but sadder and lonelier. (c) is an idiom I don't recognize. But after looking through some Chinese guides, I think it means not wanting to be like that annoying little thread that always comes loose from your clothes. (d) is exactly what it says on the tin. At this point, I think we can all relate. (e) is simply saying "I remain the same person no matter where I go, nothing will be different". For the record, Steve chose (d). Explicit effects: Each choice give a different title you can equip: (a) increases vulnerability to debuffs but also buffs intelligence, a hidden stat which increases XP gained (b) increases the damage of female companions and may also increase their aggro? (c) gives a chance to inflict debuffs on attack (d) reduces vulnerability to debuffs and also buffs physique, a hidden stat which I think increases HP and carry weight (e) gives a significant stat boost when alone.  Q2: When you enter the world of martial arts, what kind of person do you want to be? (a) To serve the country and the people, a man amongst men. (b) To order the world and none dare disobey. (c) To have freedom like the waves and bow to no one. (d) To uphold courtesy, the perfect gentleman. This question determines your starting alignment, between righteous/evil and wild/reserved. Steve chose (a) because he is a filthy meta-gamer who knows that you can easily lose righteousness by stealing from people, but it is a lot harder to gain righteousness.  Q3: While travelling the world of martial arts, you run out of money. How do you survive? (a) Eat grass, imitating the story of Shennong appraising herbs. (b) Mine, who knows, I might even find some Bitcoin. (c) Borrow, I have always been inconspicuous. (d) Run out of money? What is "run out of money"? Steve chose (c), again clearly the meta choice. Why kill 50 wild boars for someone when you can just lift the quest reward out of their pocket? Explicit effects: Each choice give a different title you can equip: (a) chance to gather more herbs (b) chance to gather more ore (c) lower chance to be detected when stealing (d) increases money gained  Q4: While travelling the world of martial arts, what weapon do you prefer? (a) Empty fist and red-stained hands, clash of bodies. (b) Sword like the phoenix in flight, exemplary gentleman. (c) Blade like a fierce tiger, bravest of braves. (d) Long spear and staff, the further they are the stronger the blow. (e) Short knives, the closer they are the more danger they are in. (f) Hidden weapons from afar, like a thousand-armed Buddha. (g) In the world of martial arts, there is no man without poison. A simple choice of weapon proficiency. Steve chose swords, naturally. And yes, swords and blades are not the same in wuxia. You could write a whole essay on the difference, but in-game, sword techniques tend towards piercing line effects while blade techniques tend towards arcs/cones. Also, (g) might sound a little strange, but is actually an artfully misquoted idiom, kind of like "hey I'm a nice guy but don't push it OK?"  Q5: In the world of martial arts, what do you think is the fundamental principle? (a) To be fierce and ruthless, and avoid the easy path. (b) To conquer the strong with the weak, and subdue the hard with the soft. (c) To move like the wind, and to strike like lightning. (d) To borrow the force of your opponent, and return to the owner with interest. (e) To strike the west while pointing to the east, formless and unpredictable. (f) To master the basics, and eschew fancy techniques. This determines your starting talent tree, of which there are six. From (a) to (f), they are Hard, Soft, Quick, Calm, Clever and Simple. Steve chose (d) because he liked the idea of being a force user. Needless to say, the Calm talent tree does not actually let you throw around force lightning. Rather, it is focused around counterattacks. Talents  This celestial monk guy is the Calm talent tree. The four other monks in various kungfu poses represent the other talent trees, there is one more directly behind which you can't see. Right now, Steve has only the starting talent at the very top, but also two available talent points from levelling up twice in the tutorial. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to get to the next actual talent, as there are two small talents in the way, which only buff his counterattack rate. Counterattack? Yes, each starting talent unlocks a special move for the main character. From left to right, they are: Calm - counterattack/knockback, extra attack after being attacked Soft - unload/knockout, reduces damage taken by 30% Clever - false move/virtual move, inflicts a random debuff on attack Quick - combo, regain 2 AP on attack Hard - bludgeoning/blast/critical, inflicts extra 30% damage on attack Simple - no special move unlocked, starting talent gives increased stats I hadn't realized before writing this out, but Calm is diametrically opposed to Quick, as is Soft to Hard and Clever to Simple.  You can see in the screenshot above where the chance to execute each of the special moves is in the combat UI. Since Steve doesn't have the Hard talent tree unlocked, his critical chance will forever remain at 0% per round and 0% per attack. He does have counterattack unlocked, but since this is the first round and Steve hasn't done anything the chance to counterattack is also 0%. Special move chances will reset to 0% when the special move is sucessfully executed.  For now, Steve can only stare longingly at the "Be Still as Water" talent, which claims to increase knockback by 20% as long as Steve doesn't move. I'm pretty sure it actually means that the chance to execute a counterattack will be increased by 20% as long as Steve doesn't move. This is just one of those annoying things that happen when a game uses a super specific term for something in-game but the translator doesn't pick up on it and translates it several different ways. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what a virtual move was.  If Steve had 7 more talent points he could develop along the right side of Calm and eventually enter Soft. This talent will also unlock the special move associated with the Soft tree.  Or he could go the other way and learn to be simple. No Special move here, just an increase in Physique and internal strength. I believe these stats govern your max HP and MP(internal power), so a Simple Steve would be very hard to kill.  If Steve had chosen (f) to Question 5 in character creation, he would have started with the Simple tree, and learned to "Overcome the ingenious with the clumsy".  The first talent in Simple "Pine and Bamboo" reduces debuffs by 6 points when hit. Debuffs  There are a lot of debuffs that techniques can inflict, like: -Split ribs, which reduces movement -Internal wounds, which deals damage to self on attack -Trauma, which deals damage to self when their turn begins -Confusion, which increases damage taken to self -Daze, which has a chance to make you skip your turn -Seal, which reduces AP gained -Poison, which drains internal energy -Freeze, which reduces Qi and Qinggong.  What about the other talent trees, then? Hard's first talent "Convincing People with Power" is a straightfoward 15% increase in damage.  Quick's first talent "Pre-emptive Strike" gives an additional 2AP in the first round of combat.  Clever's first talent "Pointing East to Hit West" gives a 50% chance to spin the target after an attack. If I am not wrong, attacks from the side do 20% more damage and attacks from behind do 50% more damage. You would think this is great, but only the next attack benefits from the flanking bonus, and sometimes your last attack will spin the enemy so that he is facing the teammate who is next in initiative. You can be too clever for your good, basically.  Finally, Soft's first talent "Empty and Clear" lets you absorb HP damage with your internal energy. Think Mana Shield from Diablo. One last question to go.  Q6: What do you imagine the world to look like? (Game Difficulty) (a)(Easy) The country is prosperous, the people are happy and at peace, even the weather is favourable. (b)(Normal) Though men follow righteousness and live in safe homes, yet danger lurks and desire abounds. (c)(Hard) Storms batter the world, but people do not change. Swords hidden behind sweet words, struggles for power and privilege. (d)(Purgatory) The flash of the blade and the shadow of the sword, armies clash and men rise to greatness. Steve chose (c)hard mode, not out of masochism, but because the dueling mechanic is locked at easy and normal difficulties. Since I'm the one actually playing the game, I won't be putting this up for vote so I can show it off. Apparently, once a day, you can challenge someone and if you win, you can take their stuff. Or so I'm told, I've not actually done it before. Finalization Screen  And with the questions over and done with, we are taken to one final screen, where we can reroll the various skills until we get bored and give up. Note the HP and MP totals on the left. A high starting HP means you have a high Physique, but low Intelligence. Unfortunately, it's difficult to tank your starting HP below more than 300 because you'd have trouble surviving the tutorial. MP is more often referred to as internal energy and you consume MP to power your martial arts techniques. Techniques without internal energy hit like wet toilet paper. Additionally, you can see the 10 martial skills on the right. The top 6 are weapon proficiencies and you can more or less ignore ones that aren't your primary and secondary weapons. You do take more damage from weapons you are not skilled with, and this goes for enemies too. Medical and Poison also have combat techniques, but aren't associated with any weapon types. You do want to get these up eventually because there is a useful achievement for getting them to 100 each. Qi regulates everything in combat and Qinggong(sometimes translated as light work) regulates everything outside combat. More Qi, more damage. More Qinggong, more movement. I think they affect AP as well, but I'm not sure about that.  Here are Steve's final stats. I didn't spend too much time rerolling for Steve, these stats look good but you mostly want as high a Qi score as you can get. Suggest and vote for your favourite main character build! For example: Darth Sinicus is a bitter and angry Star Wars fan who has time-travelled to ancient China to destroy the country and prevent the Star Wars sequels from ever coming into existence. Q1: (d) What? Is this the martial arts world? Q2: (b) To order the world and none dare disobey. Q3: (b) Mine, who knows, I might even find some Bitcoin. Q4: (d) Long spear and staff, the further they are the stronger the blow. -definitely a saberstaff user Q5: (a) To be fierce and ruthless, and avoid the easy path. sandorius fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Feb 4, 2023 |
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Feb 3, 2023 13:50
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Update 3: Goodbye Steve It looks like our actual main character will be renowned baseball pitcher Gui Siwang!  In the meantime, Steve is anxiously staring at the void beneath his feet, wondering why the voices in his head are urging him to jump.  He steps back a few paces to gain space for a proper flying leap, but is distracted by a poisonous spider. His RPG instincts kick in and he tries to pick it up.  Ouch! Enough delaying, Steve. You know what you have to do.  Whoo!  Absolutely nothing happened to Steve. Apparently wuxia protagonists are immune to damage from gravity effects.  In fact, if we turn around we can see someone clearly placed here in anticipation of our arrival. If we had walked off instead of jumping off he'd be right in front of us.  Huh? There's an old man and a burial mound at the bottom of this cliff. Excuse me, boss, can I ask you something? You don't have to ask anything, young master. Huh?? I've been waiting at the bottom of this cliff for twenty-two years, and you've finally arrived... Twenty-two years? Waiting for me? Twenty-two years ago I met a fairy here, and he asked me to wait at the bottom of this cliff for someone to appear, so that I can... leave... (A fairy? Are you alright, old man?) He told me that one day I would meet a man who would fall off a cliff and not die, and that man would be the man I wanted. And today, that man is you. (I also feel pretty miraculous that I fell off this cliff and survived.) Well then, boss, what did the fairy ask you to do after you met me? Ah. I don't remember. (Isn't that the important thing here? How could you forget?) Anyway, I can finally go home. And where might your home be, sir? It's right here, don't you see? Goodbye, young master, may you recreate the legend...  (He disappeared! Then this tomb...) This is spooky, I'd better get out of here!This encounter gives us a title, Chosen One, which increases the power of our Wild Card Punch.  Steve pokes around the area a little and finds a skeleton with broken legs. Alas, they must not have had enough protagonist powers to survive the fall. He loots some Ruyi Pearls, a green-quality throwing weapon, from the remains.  Moving around to the west, Steve encounters a giant log. This is approximately where he would have ended up had he chosen to climb down the cliff to the left.  There's good stuff here. Wow! A millennium ganoderma!  It mysteriously transmutes into a ganoderma lucidum once in Steve's inventory. Seasoned wuxia veterans will probably know this better as a thousand-year lingzhi. It's like the 1-UP mushroom from Mario, and in this game, it increases your maximum HP.  Steve's instinct to collect absolutely everything backfires again as he tries to pick up a poisonous spider. Now he's got twenty points of poison status, and he can't even do anything with the spider right now.  Oh look, a random woodcutter.  And some other dude who's walking around instead of just staying in one place.  Steve's first quest is to carry a bundle of firewood down the mountain so that the strapping lumberjack can continue to hack away at this tremendously oversized log.  On the way down, Steve is distracted by a wild boar. It's low level XP fodder if he ever saw one.  After a valiant life-or-death struggle Steve subdues the boar. He could actually have done better, but I forgot to make him learn the sword technique Kongjin gave him.  I rectify that mistake immediately. Steve learns the 3AP/150dmg technique but is barely short of martial XP to learn the advanced 5AP/275dmg technique.  I cash in some achievements Steve has earned, but it's not enough. In-game achievements give a ton of useful stuff, especially XP, but you generally want to save these to get a new party member up and running with your favorite sutras.  Steve meets a random guy complaining about monkeys. There's an unmarked sidequest here where you keep drinking from the jug of water some nice guy has left here, until you empty it and find a Tianshan Snow Lotus inside, which increases your max MP.  See the "Your Jianghu reputation has increased" notification on the right side of the screen? That's not from fighting the monkey, it's from finding the Tianshan Snow Lotus. "Jianghu" is shorthand for the world of martial arts, like "squared circle" is for wrestling. In theory, having a high Jianghu rep will make your opponents shiver in fear at the very mention of your name. In practice, it's just a way for the game to gate off more difficult quests.  Steve is shown here thrusting his sword repeatedly at the poor defenceless monkey.  Even basic techniques are kind of flashy. Look at him gathering light - excuse me, I mean chi - before twirling his sword and flourishing it.  Steve hits the monkey for 142 damage, which is sort of OK at this stage of the game. I mean, it's a monkey, how threatening can they get?  Having dealt with the simian menace, Steve heads to the east. If he had turned right at the beginning, he could have stumbled upon this mysterious cave.  A dragon statue! Mysterious treasure! And also dead bodies on the floor!  Believe me when I say there is no way to climb out of this cave. But there is a clue on one of the skeletons.  Last night, I dreamed of a mysterious old man who told me to use the power of the Kadentopia. But I couldn't figure out what he meant, looks like I won't be getting out of here alive... RIP Steve. Next player, please!
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Feb 5, 2023 18:08
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Update 4: First Steps While poor Steve molders away in the cave of dragon balls, Gui Siwang is having considerably more success.  Hmmm... how should I take this old man down?- - - As noted in the OP, a more intelligent character will spout technobabble at Kongjin. In addition, Siwang was remarkably lucky and it only took ~10 tries to lift the Thunderbolt from Kongjin! Truly a blessed character.  Having completed the tutorial sequence, Siwang spends some time in contemplation of his future path. Should he leverage his mental acuity, moving towards the Clever talent tree and learning "God's presence in this world"? This talent improves debuffs with your Qinggong, although I'm not sure exactly how.  This would eventually allow him to randomly inflict debuffs on his opponents.  Or should he ascend the foothills of the path to power, and move towards the Hard talent tree, and learn "Thunder and lightning"? This talent improves technique power and handily tells us the exact amount (4% per 10 Qinggong).  This would eventually allow him to perform critical hits on opponents, doing more damage.  Or he could concentrate on the Quick talent tree and learn "Agile and athletic", reducing the AP needed for item use from 3 to 2.  This would eventually allow him to learn "Moving like thunder", giving him 1 more starting AP in the first round of combat and also increasing the amount of AP regained when a combo goes off from 2 to 3.  At this point, I should also point out that there is a hidden advantage of going wide rather than deep. Many sutras require certain talents to learn the techniques contained within them. For example, all the starting sutras have six passives attached to their final technique, corresponding to the six possible starting talents. The one we do have access to reduces the AP cost of "Double star flying shadow" from 5 to 4. It does require the expenditure of 3 talent points to reach an otherwise fairly useless talent, however.  For reference, here are the stats for "Double star flying shadow".  And here are the stats for the passive corresponding to the Hard talent tree. Apparently it doubles Starfleet's increased power! Watch out, Borg!  Siwang is seen here testing out the Thunderbolt on an unsuspecting wild boar. This is a little problematic because you have to run up to the boar to hunt it, which means you start right next to it, inside the minimum range of Meteor Tossing. It does about 300 damage per hit, which is easily double what Steve was doing.  Siwang runs around for a while picking flowers and mining ore, and takes the opportunity to boast to an old woodcutter he meets in the woods. Huh? Who are you, and what are you doing here so deep in the mountains? I just jumped off the cliff you see right in front of you...Ha! Jumping off that rocky mountain? You must be pretty good at martial arts if you survived that with all your limbs intact. Doing so shifts our alignment slightly away from reserved towards wild.  Just behind the old man are four hunters and an angry bear.  Little brother, it's dangerous here, so stay out of the way. -That sounds like fun. Why don't I help you hunt bears? -Don't be afraid, bearbear, I'll help you chase away the villains! -It's really dangerous here, let's go, let's go. (Siwang calls the bear Xiong Xiong, which pretty much directly translates to bear bear.)  The bear is actually not that frightening as bears go, it's only Rank 15. If Siwang chooses to side with the hunters, it's basically free XP.  It's surrounded by hunters with techniques that are effective against beasts. Frankly Siwang cannot take them on at this point in time. But he can always come back later... Please vote: Talent direction: 1)Left, towards Clever 2)Right, towards Hard 3)Down, deeper into Quick Bear vs. Hunters 1)Side with the hunters 2)Side with the bear
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Feb 7, 2023 13:12
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NullBlack posted:When you said he'd say something about Newton's Third Law, I thought there'd at least be some context to it. Does he still try to attack with these options, or does he actually try to teach Kongjin the Triangle Inequality Theorem? It's the same punch for all three options, purely a cosmetic choice. Although I can see someone yelling the fulcrum thing while doing a throw (they would have to be a massive nerd though).
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Feb 7, 2023 23:58
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Update 5: Gongshi Village: Leadership Struggle  Deciding to put off the bear decision for the time being, Siwang visits the cave in which Steve was stuck and grabs the loot there, including a costume.  Being the intellectual that he is, he immediately realizes Kadentopia to be some kind of mangled machine translation of "ka zhu", or being stuck , and he uses the "Escape being stuck" function on the main menu to teleport to Gongshi Village. Yeah, I would never have figured that out without a guide. Actually I would never have found this cave in the first place, it is surprisingly difficult to spot caves in this game. There's supposedly a portal to the underworld somewhere in this general vicinity but I've never found it.  The unstuck function dumps us at the entrance to Gongshi Village. I believe Gongshi translates to "Bow Rock" and there is indeed a rock arch sheltering the village.  There's even a vein of rare Zijin, or purple gold, on top of the arch.  Siwang takes the opportunity to review his map. The yellow ? is where he is supposed to deliver some wood. There's a river to the east, a small village and a town to the west, and an ominous red tower to the southwest.  It's a nice village. Rice padi fields surround it in a semicircle.  There's a suspicious pile of hay surrounded by some villagers and two kids at the west end of the padi fields.   This big brother is a stranger, and he wants to eavesdrop on Daffodil's secret! Don't pick the flowers on that straw pile there! Why not? We're not telling you! In a fit of childishness Siwang immediately approaches the straw pile. Hey, don't mess up our straw pile!Doing it from another angle yields more information.  Who are you? An outsider? Listen, the herbs growing here are very good. I've already told the village chief, no one is allowed to touch them without permission! The two guys standing guard don't seem to be taking it seriously, though. They're chatting about a chicken thief that's stolen their rooster. Yes.. three chickens were taken from Lao Mu's house. Not only that, Ah Cui has been very agitated lately. She says several pieces of ham baba keep disappearing from her house.I assume Ham baba is a ham-fisted translation of hamburger. In any case it's a kind of food. It must be the wild boars and monkeys around this village.The most annoying thing is that our rooster has been taken! Three months, eight days and one morning ago our huge cock was surrounded by hens, and now... tch!I'm fairly certain this is some kind of bawdy pun, but alas, I lack the insight to translate it properly. We have to catch those thieving animals and chop them into pieces! Yes, the last time we brandished our weapons at them and they ran away. This time, let's catch them in the coop! What? How? We wait for them at the chicken coop, and then, while they're eating, we sneak up and push them in! We'll be heroes!Big heroes!Good luck with that plan, guys. More importantly, it means that they won't be on guard here at night.  Moving on to the east, we find a shed with a horseman and his horse. This is the game's fast travel system, he'll take you to locations you've visited before and there are quite a few horsemen scattered around the map.  He has some chickens just clucking around. For the record, the "E" key prompt says "Ambush Domestic Chicken".  What's the point of an "E" key if you don't press it? The chicken expires with a sad noise and Siwang becomes slightly more evil. He is shown here granting mercy to the other chickens, because there are much more profitable ways to become evil than slaughtering random chickens. They have a small chance to drop chicken meat or eggs, but Siwang was unlucky enough to get neither from his lone chicken kill.  Siwang continues to explore the fields. Shown here, a buffalo doing buffalo things.  Patroller Wang Fu complains about the wild boar problem and gives Siwang a quest to bring him three boar tusks.  Alas, Gongshi Village is really overrun with wild boars. We can only guard the closest fields with the few people we have. Listen, if you can bring me three boar's teeth and prove your contribution to the peace of our village, I'll pay you well, okay? It's not just the wild boars that come to eat our crops at night... there's this black pig that's taken over the entire northern farmland! Ever since that black pig came to our village, the wild boars have become more and more numerous, and not only have the crops failed, we've lost a lot of money. We can no longer cultivate the land in the north. Not only is it fierce, we've had many people killed by its bite! It's the nightmare of the village... We call it... the Widowmaker. I must warn you, lad, don't go hunting the black pig until you're ready. If you get hit by it a few times, you could die from internal injuries.  Random farmer, complaining about politics.  Two people, asleep in broad daylight. Hey! It's 10.28am, shouldn't you be planting rice or something? Although judging by the name Iron Crutch, these are probably beggars.  Another random farmer, but this one is clearly slacking off.  Oh my, what a big house. Two stories and everything. It must belong to someone important. Let's go have a look.  There's a dumb child playing alone behind the big house. Maybe he's an orphan or something.  See that ? item he's carrying with a 40% chance to be stolen? Now that's a productive way to become evil!  Oh look, a poisonous spider!  Ouch! There's a cat sunning herself on the roof. Despite the "E" key prompt to hunt Flowering Beauty, we cannot actually attack it. Look, even evil wuxia protagonists have to have some moral standards, alright?  We arrive at the courtyard of the big house, where there appears to be some commotion going on. Unfortunately, they are not particularly happy to see Siwang. What are you doing here, kid? This is no place for you to idle! Uh... no, no, I'm just passing by. I'll be going now! (I'd better go find that Xu Xuke guy and not just go looking for trouble.) Siwang continues to explore the village until, passing by a house with red lanterns, he triggers a small cutscene. Hmm.. since time immemorial, innkeepers have always had stories to tell. Perhaps I can ask the innkeeper for information on that Mister Xu. The poor innkeeper is being scolded by an angry guest. "The wine is sour, the rice is sour!" He's probably overjoyed to see someone else walk in.  Innkeeper, I would like to ask you about someone. Did a man by the name of Xu Xuke visit this village? Could Sir describe this man? (What did Kongjin say about him?) An idle man with an untruthful face, always smiling and laughing... Ugh, it must that scoundrel from the other day who still owes me for his drinks! That so-called scholar came in, ordered food and several jars of wine, got drunk and then had no money to pay, only empty hands! Is Sir a family friend here to clear his debt? What? No! No, no, no, don't get me wrong, I'm just looking for him. Since he had no money to pay, he was taken to the village chief. He'll have to pay off his debt by working in our fields! Is he still in the village then? I... don't really know. Maybe, maybe not. Go ask the village chief, I really don't want to think about that sour scholar, eating and drinking for free. Ugh, such bad luck... The village chief... Thank you, innkeeper! We can now go back to the courtyard of the big house, where the commotion seems to have reached a climax. (Wow, two sides confronting each other. They look so fierce and angry, I wonder which one is the village chief?)  Alas, little sister. I've only been away from home for a few years, but I come back to see a snake infestation, ruffians running rampant, and even my precious niece has been kidnapped! I'm not happy at all. I say, if you can't handle the village affairs properly, do you even deserve to be the village chief? You know very well the position of village chief has always been passed down to daughter rather than to son. How is it that the first thing you ask about is not family, but the village chief position? You unworthy son, how dare you come back to fiind fault with our chief! Well, if your village continues to be led by this woman, clearly soon you won't have a village anymore. Listen, when big brother Xinghe takes over, he'll make sure you all have a peaceful life, with plenty of food! You shameless wretch, you were thrown out of the village and now you come back with a bunch of bullies? Hey hey hey, let's not rush to scold people, the snake infestation is a fact, and if the village chief can't come up with a solution... we can't go on like this, we're all worried and scared. Although the Gongshi village chief has traditionally been a woman, shouldn't we at least have someone competent? Hmm... as everyone here can clearly see with their own eyes, my little sister Mei Hongqi has shown her weakness and incompetence, when faced with such calamities. At the next village meeting, if my little sister is still unable to address the problems of the villagers... I, Mei Xinghe, will prove to everyone that I am the more suitable candidate for village chief! Please give me your support! Sister dear, please enjoy your last few days as the village chief. Chief, don't listen to that rascal. He won't be any good for the village at all. Only harm, no benefit! Look at those ruffians he's surrounded by, they're no good at all! Chief Mei, don't worry, I support you! Chief Mei... it's not that we don't support you, but he had a good point. If we don't do something about this snake infestation, we'll never be able to sleep peacefully in our beds. What are you talking about? Little Xiaoqing has been kidnapped by who knows who, Chief Mei should make finding her her top priority! Fellow villagers, this is not the time for argument. The village is facing many problems from within and without, which we should deal with one by one. Please be patient, I will definitely address these problems! I intend to send out a search team for Xiaoqing, and also a snake hunting team to solve the snake pit problem as soon as possible. Chief Mei, the snakebite medicine produced by that wandering doctor isn't working at all! We can't let him fool us like this! Indeed, I shall give this my personal attention. What about that idle slacker Xu? He slipped his bonds and abandoned the field we gave him to plant. Shouldn't we be looking for him? (Slipped his bonds? Oh no, there goes my clue for finding him!) Unfortunately, we don't have the people to spare to look for him. If we stumble across him, we should arrest him, but for now, let us concentrate on Xiaoqing and the snake problem first. Alright, everyone, you heard the village chief. Let's go back to farming now. Xiaoqing is such a nice girl... I hope she's safe. Chief Mei, please don't overdo it. Ugh... Well, that was a long cutscene. Before talking to the village chief, Siwang briefly admires the Mei family genealogy, which is long enough that they'll have to build a bigger house soon.  Excuse me, are you the village chief? And who might you be, young master? I, Gui Siwang, come to the chief of Gongshi Village to ask about a person. Oh? Who are you looking for? The innkeeper told me that a certain Xu Xuke was unable to pay for his food and wine, and was sent to work off his debt. ... Unfortunately, the man you're looking for is no longer in our village. Recently, there have been upheavals in our village, and that man took the chance to escape. (drat, he really ran away!) Hmm... I wonder if village chief has any clues as to his whereabouts? Everyone in the village is worried about the recent snake infestation. No one has the time to spare thought for that rascal. (Great, just great. The sky is high and the horizon broad, if I don't get a clue, it'll take forever to find Xu Xuke. Looks like I'll have to help the village out after all.) As Siwang leaves the village chief's courtyard, he is interrupted by another cutscene.  Please, not the face! At least, not to the face!' Hmm? These people are...? Do you even have a conscience, old man? Using wild flowers and weeds to fake snakebite medicine? Give me back my money! You claimed forty-nine days of effectiveness, straight from the alembic of the Queen Mother of the West! All lies! Look at the herbs he's collected! They're just roadside weeds! There's a whole bunch of these outside my house! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry! Please believe me, the snakebite medicine is really effective, but the snakes here are just so poisonous... Please give me some time, I can try to brew some new medicine... Ahhh! I don't care, just give me my money back. Help! Someone, please, help! (Maybe I should help this guy out?)  Stop! (Huh? That wasn't me!) Who are you and why are you meddling in my business? I have been a guest in this village for some time now, and I have seen him tend to his patients with great care. Even though his snakebite medicine may not be effective, still, you should not treat him like this. (Wow! So righteous and awesome! Wait, his face looks familiar... maybe if it were a bit less heroic and a bit more stupid...) Hmmph! Another guy from out of town, you're probably in cahoots with this quack! There's an outsider over here too! Who, me? I'm just passing by! You picked the wrong place to band together and cheat us! Grab them all! A gang of village toughs attempts to beat Siwang up, together with his newfound friend Duan Siping. Kongjin's Thunderbolt is really doing a number on these guys.  Pretty small fry, all told. Easily dealt with.  Th... Thank you very much, young warriors! There is no need to thank us. It was the right thing to do. Hahaha! What amazing kungfu, brother! I'm Gui Siwang, how may I address brother? This humble self is Duan Siping. Brother Gui's skills are also quite impressive, and you have a good heart as well. To be able to meet a friend such as Brother Gui, today is a lucky day. (This fellow's last name is Duan? This look, this literary air, it's so similar to that nerd who forgot his friends...) Doctor, I have a question for you. What kind of herbs are used for the snakebite medicine? Master Duan, this snakebite medicine is made from Phellodendron Bark with Scutellaria, Gardenia, and other herbs. Let me show you the recipe. Hmmm... I know that Huang Lian, at least, is a powerful remedy against snakebites. How come it isn't working? Please believe me, this recipe has been carefully researched, those who are poisoned by a snake will surely live after taking it, even if they are on the verge of death! I am not exaggerating! (Yeah right, I heard those guys complaining just now. Forty-nine days of effectiveness, the alembic of the Queen Mother of the West? Not exaggerating? Hah! No wonder they were so angry.) What kind of snake venom is so powerful? Where did these snakes come from? You are new here, so you must not be familiar with the snake pit. There is a cave not far from here, where snakes live in alarming numbers, and at night they come into the village biting people and livestock alike. Many doctors tried to help, but nothing worked against the venom, and slowly they stopped coming to the village. I didn't believe the stories at first, so I came here to find out. Doctor, is there something strange about the snake venom here, then? The venom seems to be a mixture of different kinds of poisonous substances. I would have gone to the cave to obtain samples, but those guys accosted me... Brother Gui, I would like to help the good doctor and his patients in the village. I am going to this snake cave to investigate a little, would you care to join me? (Well, the village chief won't help me unless the snake infestation is dealt with, so...) What can I say? Of course I'll join Brother Duan! Haha, great! Brother Gui is very cool, admirable! Our first party member! We don't actually have to go to the snake cave right off the bat. Brother Gui, are you ready to go? Duan Siping is a Simple Swordsman.  He comes with his own sword and two sutras, the Duan Family Swordsmanship and the Duan Family's Mind.  The Duan Family's Mind is our first example of an Inner Working, or Neigong. You can only equip one Inner Working at a time, and it confers passive benefits. The Duan Family's Mind buffs the Duan Family techniques, so it's fairly useless for anyone not named Duan Siping.  But the good news is, these Inner Working sutras often come with passive nodes that buff Qi! And also in this case Yang, which buffs Yang-aligned techniques. The vote from the previous update is still open, as I do not think we can confront the bear hunters even with Duan Siping. Please vote: Talent direction: 1)Left, towards Clever 2)Right, towards Hard 3)Down, deeper into Quick Bear vs. Hunters 1)Side with the hunters 2)Side with the bear sandorius fucked around with this message at 09:48 on Feb 8, 2023 |
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Feb 8, 2023 09:41
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I'd say talent points are pretty rare. You get 1 talent point per level and the main character gets some more for significant plot milestones. So you start off fast but slow down a lot as you reach the endgame and stop gaining levels fast. At that point you'll be cursing every stray talent point you put into something you thought was cool. In the end, though, builds aren't all that important, every talent does something and if a fight is too difficult you can generally just reload and come back later. I just like showing off the names of the talents. Like, "Feint" and "Critical Damage UP" are boring, practical names and nothing like "Pointing east to hit west" and "Broken gold broken jade". Some companion quests do require a full talent tree, so I won't be putting those up for vote. Also, you can respec the main character if you don't like your build, but it takes an item of which there are only 7 hidden in the world map. We've already seen one, although I didn't show it off in the inventory.
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Feb 9, 2023 00:49
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Update 6: Gongshi Village: Sidequesting It looks like Siwang is investing into the Clever side of Quick and helping out the poor bear that was probably minding its own business before some assholes came along and ruined its day. In order to do that, he's gonna hafta level up some. Luckily, he's in a beginner town, so there should be tons of sidequests to do for XP.  With Duan Siping in tow, Siwang pokes around the village's chief's house some more. There are some miscellaneous items lying around to be stolen and a maid on the balcony who gives a bit of background on the Mei family. Yes, look at the genealogy on the wall, at the top is the first village chief, and it's been passed down from generation to generation. It's said that back then, the first village chief relied on their martial arts skills to repel the harassment of foreigners and soldiers, and the method was also passed down with the genealogy.I thought this was the right trigger to allow us to inspect the genealogy, but apparently not. Probably need to advance the plot.  Ah, a suspicious pickle stone. No, I don't know what a pickle stone is. Huh? What's under this rock? Apparently, the secret of righteousness is to leave no stone unturned. Seriously, who leaves sutras hidden under a rock in a random village?  This is a great find. The Secret of Righteousness Song is an Inner Working sutra that is easy to learn, boosts Qi without any change to Yin/Yang alignment, and passively restores a little bit of internal power every round. As soon as Siwang finishes with his throwing skill sutra, he's studying this.  There's also some stuff scattered around the village, behind houses and on roofs and such. There's a little jade buddha on the roof of the inn. Hey, it's not stealing if the prompt says "Take" and not "Steal".  This guy is collecting rocks to drop onto wild boars, and also arguing with his daughter because he thinks it's too dangerous for her to tag along. He asks Siwang to collect some plums, eggs and flour to make bait.  Madam Foo here is praying for help. Luckily we're passing by. Heavens... Ah Cho, Ah Foo, please bless us. Auntie, what are you talking about? Ah, recently something strange happened in my family. I am asking our ancestors for help. It's concerning the ham baba I cook on the stove. I'm not boasting, but I'm the best cook in this village! (Ham baba? I'd like to try it, if I get the chance.) Hey, I'm worried about Grandpa Vesta's anger right now, so just leave me alone.Since Vesta is the Roman goddess of the hearth, Grandpa Vesta is, I think, a localization of the Kitchen God. Auntie, your ham baba smells really good, can I learn the recipe? Recently, I put some cooked food on the table, and when I turned around, it was gone! Nearly scared me to death! Could it be that I'm not doing a good job at the last offering?- You are so humorous, is your head alright? - Oh no, Granpa Vesta is angry, this is a big deal! Since the thread voted to start Siwang as wild and uninhibited, I chose the first option. The second option is the diplomatic, reserved one. Humorous? How do you mean? Well... it means to compliment you on your kindness and graciousness. (Granpa Vesta is angry? Seriously... Why don't I just look around the place?) A ham baba in its natural environment. Looks like a pile of pancakes to me, although it's probably some kind of bread stuffed with meat.  Is this the angry Grandpa Vesta? Should I worship him? Oh, oh, Grandpa Vesta! Thanksgiving, exclamation mark. (I feel an unusual power... how magical!) Ahhh!At this point a rat jumped out of a basket, I wasn't expecting it so I couldn't get a screenshot.  Wow! Scared the hell out of me, what a big rat! Eh? On the wall behind the pot, those handprints... Looks like a bunch of little rascals have been stealing food! Hmmm... could this be the truth of the matter? Grandpa Vesta, thank you very much!  She's still praying... So it's these brats! Waah! Spotted! Don't run! I'm not running! Not you! Stop! Come on! Don't let him catch us! Let's split up and meet at the rice field! OK! drat! I need to chase them! Maybe next time don't blurt out your secret rendezvous in front of the guy who's chasing you? These kids aren't very good at this whole escape thing. What are we going to steal next time? Stop right there! I've got you now, I won't let any of you get away! Incoming! Run! Everyone, scatter! Oh my god, they've got Siwang flanked! Those kids only scattered to surround him with a triangle formation! Like seriously, is Siwang going to have to engage in mortal combat against three scrawny kids?  In fact, now that I look closely at their models, they're beggars! They're dressed in patchwork rags, I thought they were just bored village kids! "Small Goldfish"?  "Puss"? They don't even have proper names! They're orphans who didn't have parents to name them!  "A Dog". Wow. You can't seriously expect Siwang to attack these kids! He's armed with Thunderbolt Bombs, for Grandpa Vesta's sake! The humanity!  Ouch! drat, it's a real life-or-death struggle over here!  Siwang triumphs on the field of battle. Congratulations, Siwang, I hope you're proud of yourself.  *sobs* please, spare us! We won't dare to steal food anymore... If you let us go, we'll give you a secret book, how about that? I can see that these children are very fast, they must have been instructed by a senior person, but they are not following the right path and are stealing the offerings of the Stove God. Friend Gui, do not let them off so easily!Look, Mr "Anonymous Member of the Duan Family", not all of us come from a noble family, OK? Some of us have to scrabble under rocks for our Inner Working sutras instead of just inheriting one. I notice you didn't join Siwang while he was fighting for his life! It's not really his fault, the game has just coded this fight as a duel which means companions are excluded. But it's funny to imagine Duan Siping just watching from the sidelines as Siwang is getting beat up by three kids. If we do as Duan Siping suggests, we gain righteousness. It is indeed our fault for stealing Aunt Fu's food, but that's because even if we beg all day long, we might not even get a scrap of food... I don't care what your reasons are, stealing is wrong, you will be punished by the villagers! *sobs* I'm so sorry... It was just a bit of food... now we won't even have a place to sleep... It's too late for regrets! Reflect on your own behaviour! Young man, have you figured out why Grandpa Vesta is angry? Auntie, your food was not taken by the God of the Kitchen... Actually, it was the three beggars in the village that stole your food and ate it. What? It must be Dog and the others? drat, the village can't allow them to stay here anymore! Young man, take this ham baba. Oh, this ham baba is really something. Auntie, your ham baba smells so good, why don't you teach me how to make it? Haha, young man, I like you, so I'll teach you my best ham baba recipe! Great, thank you, auntie! (The three beggars were expelled from the village by the angry villagers. No one knew where they went, nor did anyone care.)Well, that sure was a heck of a righteous choice there. In fact, this is the first time I'm seeing this choice, because who plays a wuxia RPG and turns down a bribe of a martial arts book? Let's load a previous save and disregard Duan Siping.  Letting the beggars off is an evil choice, and Duan Siping disapproves. Brother Gui... Well, what good things do you have on you? Don't lie to me. Don't look down on me! This is the secret book of Wild Goose Walk, given to me by a senior beggar. Look at how fast I was running, it's because I've practiced this book... I'm still learning, you won't be able to catch me when I've mastered it! Oh? A Qinggong technique? I'm warning you, if you're lying to me, I'll beat you to death! Don't act all righteous at us, you're just an ordinary guy whose eyes light up when they see something good. Let's go, sisters... Young man, have you figured out why Grandpa Vesta is angry? (I promised the three kids not to say anything, they might just be kids, but I should still keep my promise.) Well... the Kitchen God said that your cooking is so delicious, he can't help but eat it all. I see, with my cooking skills, it's only natural that Grandpa Vesta would like to eat it. ... You're right.Aunt Foo also teaches us the ham baba recipe here. (From then on, Foo Ah Chui continued to pay her respects to the Kitchen God, and the little beggars, having ignored your lesson, continued to steal her food...) The Wild Goose Movement technique gives a temporary boost in Qinggong when used in combat, which lets you move a little further per AP spent and increases your initiative. The passive nodes also boost Qinggong. I like to imagine that the secret is to flap your arms when you run, generating lift. The capstone technique "A Thousand Miles without a Trace" simply improves the base techique to give 20 points of Qinggong instead of 10.  Siwang can now cook ham baba with pork and flour from the crafting tab. It gives a 3pt boost to Blade for 24 hours.  Moving on, there's a new guy staying at the inn's dining room. Dammit, who stole my longsword? If I find him, I'll skin him to death!  - It's just a sword, why not just find another one? - The sword is here, the man is here, The sword is dead, the man is dead, Kill yourself. That was sudden. It must be some kind of traditional saying or something. Ahhh! Don't, don't! I beg you two, please be merciful, this small business of mine can't afford to have you smash things here. Well, for the sake of the innkeeper, I'll let you off. Tch, rear end in a top hat. I have better things to worry about, so go away.He dropped the longsword when drunk one night and wants us to help find it.  There's also some stuff in the inn. This is worth 1500 money, but it's not worth the hit to righteousness, especially since we've been doing evil stuff lately.  Someone dropped a book here.  It's good to meet someone as civic-minded as me, who likes to help people pick up... hmm? The Songfeng Sword Scores?Don't you hate it when you leave a hotel and realize you've left something behind? It's even worse when it's a secret sword technique of your sect. Songfeng Sword is a fairly standard sword technique, Duan Siping might benefit from it eventually.  Siwang visits the blacksmith. Lush here gives us a brief rundown on different types of ore before offering to trade black iron (rare) for iron or copper (not rare). Naturally Siwang accepts.  The blacksmith recently got robbed. The thief escaped, but dropped their loot in the process. The problem is, the loot is a sutra for a family fist technique and now there are three pages missing.  Siwang tries to forge a fist weapon, but realizes he doesn't have any leather on hand. It will have to wait.  Pictured here is Duan Siping's sword. "The Ancestral Sword of the Duan Family is dignified and solemn in form, revealing a sense of kingship."  All companions begin with a yellow-rarity weapon which can be upgraded once to end-game levels of damage. You can be sure I'll be keeping an eye out for Cold Iron and Red Copper.  The blacksmith's wife is looking for some Boar Yellow. I think this means bile? Her daughter is sick and needs medicine.  At this point, we've explored most of the village, but there's one more farm on the outskirts to the south. On the way there, Siwang picks up a snake. Ouch! There's an angry bull and some distressed farmers.  Yes, the bull's eyes are filled with anger... hey, not at me, I didn't mess with you! (This bull has scars on its horns... Where did it get these?) (The farmer won't let me touch his bull, I'll have to come back at night.) There's also a kid who was supposed to pick bamboo shoots but skived off and wants Siwang to help get them. Thanks for the pocket money, kiddo.   Are you like my uncle, have no job to do?Hey! Siwang is a wuxia protagonist, he only looks unemployed! And is that your uncle in the background? He looks non-generic!   Ah, a new face. How rare. Hello, my name is Luo and this is my home. Where are you from? Well, how should I put it... Ah, how rude of me. Naturally as a wanderer you must be reluctant to reveal your origins to people freely. Well, what about you? Are you a hunter? Well, ahahaha... I see, I see. Naturally you must be reluctant to reveal your origins to a wanderer freely. Hahaha... Ahahaha... (What's with this guy? Is he with that pack of fools from Fuxian Academy?) Nevermind then. Goodbye. Wait! It's just that I see you walk lightly, and have a weapon, would you care to spar with me?Luo Yuanyu is much more of a pushover than the three beggar kids. Although that's probably only because of the Thunderbolt, I remember losing this fight on my first normal difficulty playthrough.  I lost, huh? As expected... (This person seems to be quite interesting, he lost and yet doesn't seem to mind.) Hey you... oh no, I still don't know your name! Gui Siwang at your service. And you? Hahaha, my name is Luo Yuanyu. And to be honest with you, I didn't answer when you asked me what I did, because I'm not really doing anything, haha! Haha... haha.. huh? We are each but a drop in the ocean of this world, and in the sight of heaven the life of a man is over in the blink of an eye. I've always wanted to go out into the world and see many things. If you don't mind, why don't we go together? We can take care of each other on the road as we cross the rivers and lakes, the Jianghu. Alright, sure. Let's go! A third companion! Luo Yuanyu is a Quick Spearsman. Well, actually he starts with a staff and bonks people with it. They aren't really distinct weapons by Chinese standards, they're both long pieces of wood. Unlike Duan Siping, who came with pretty much no equipment other than his ancestral sword, Yuanyu comes with a nice accessory that restores 6% internal energy per round, just like the Secrets of Righteousness Inner Working.  I will probably take him down to the bottom of the Quick talent tree before filling in the sides.  His staff art "Nocturnal Quest for the Sea" consumes a lot of internal energy to deal merely average damage, but it is a point blank AOE. Quite the sausage fest we have going on here. There is one more easily-recruited companion, but she is far away to the north. Should Siwang take a short trip north to meet her, or should he stay and deal with the snake cave first? Please vote: -Go north, recruit her, fast travel back -Stay in Gongshi village sandorius fucked around with this message at 12:58 on Feb 11, 2023 |
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Feb 9, 2023 18:36
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Sum Gai posted:
Executing them would be a waste of effort, they're likely to die of exposure anyway. I like the contrast between kicking out the hungry beggars, and having the protagonist and Aunt Foo discuss the ham baba recipe. Fine dining while others starve, a bit cliched, but it works.
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Feb 11, 2023 16:11
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Update 7: A Short Detour North (I have slightly increased the resolution of the screenshots from ~900px to ~1440px, please let me know if it breaks anything on your screen, and if you prefer the change.) It looks like a unanimous vote to head north and recruit a new companion! Companions do gain XP while not in your party, the problem is they do not start with a sutra equipped and will have only one or two techniques learned. So optimal gameplay demands that you recruit them, give them a book to read as homework and then dump them until you remember to come back and switch out their sutras. Speaking of character management, I take the chance to spend all my unassigned talent points before heading out.  Notably, Duan Siping gets "Managing complexity with simplicity", which increases a technique's power by 15% if used more than three times in a single battle. It keeps stacking up to a maximum of 100%, which is pretty good and will make Duan Siping a powerhouse in long battles as long as he keeps spamming the same skill. I like it, it's very in line with the theme of the Simple talent tree.  As we turn to leave, Yuanyu's niece interrupts us with a cutscene. Uncle, uncle, where are you going? Didn't you promise that no matter how my mother criticizes us, we'll go through it together? Hey, I'm going out on some business, and when I'm done I'll come back and play with you, alright? And then, I'll hire ten maidservants for her to be served, and she can read all she wants, and hey, if you want to go find a bird's nest or play with some crickets, I'll go with you!  Hey hey hey! What are you two whispering about, you think I can't hear you? Little brother, our parents died early and I raised you with my own two hands. Take care of yourself, don't go hungry or cold. Ten maidservants, tch! They are not as important as a single hair on your head. Yes yes, my dear sister. I'll be fine, look, I'll be with Brother Siwang. Brother Siwang promptly drags him off to fight some wolves. In fact, Luo Yuanyu has a distressing tendency to get targeted a lot because his point-blank AOE draws a lot of aggro. Luckily character death is not permanent on Hard difficulty.  An unidentified female body! The wilds of ancient China can be dangerous and full of beasts. But none so dangerous... as man himself!  A seriously injured man on the brink of death, who conveniently expires after imploring us to seek his comrade at a nearby caravan with the mysterious phrase "Fish... got away..." We do at least bury his body.  If you've been paying attention to the minimap, you may have noticed that Siwang is headed east, not north. There's something in this area I want to pick up first. In the meantime, have a picture of Siwang about to harvest a deer for its antlers.  Here is the caravan the seriously injured man wanted us to find. Can you guess which one is his comrade?  Yeah, it's the brown-vested guy sitting down in the background. The others are bona-fide merchants, but this guy is a secret agent for imperial tax collectors or something. He curses briefly, gives us 1000 money and asks us to report to his superior in Dayan Town, to the west.  To the south, a swamp filled with crocodiles, which are pretty chill and just laze around in the water.  Except for this red rear end in a top hat, who is presumably the miniboss for this swamp region. Luckily, encounters with wildlife normally have an "Escape from combat" button, so Siwang runs and avoids aggroing the "Lord of the Swamp" for now.  I thought there was a weapon around here, but apparently not. There is a 1000-year lingzhi growing on a fallen tree around here, so it's not entirely a wasted trip.  Siwang heads a bit to the north, on the other side of the river. Yep, wrong abandoned temple. This is what I was looking for, it's a good weapon for Luo Yuanyu at this stage of the game. It nearly doubles his damage.  There's also some poor guy who got stabbed to death by a blade inside the temple proper.  Despite Siwang not having the first clue on how to use it, I promptly equip it on him, for the aesthetic. In fact, I realize later that it's actively detrimental because blades weigh a lot and now he has slightly less movement to spare.  Siwang runs north and vacuums up all the herbs and ore he can find along the way. This includes an unfortunate centipede. Ouch! This is the Shijia Salt Estate, which is northeast of Gongshi Village. The gate looks very impressive until you realize it isn't attached to a wall. We're just here to register the horseman for future fast travel and continue on our journey north.  Luckily big bad wolves in Ancient China don't bite unless you press "E" near them.  To the north-north-east of Shijia Salt Estate, the Fancy Feast Hall. If we were here in daytime there would be a long queue of NPCs in this courtyard.  To the east of the Fancy Feast Hall, a bunch of ruffians camped near Relics of our Ancestors. That's a cave system which is empty during the day but gives off a strange spooky sensation.  Siwang takes the chance to buy some rare crafting materials from these guys. Coral Gold has a fantastic Hardness/Weight ratio and we can make good use of it later. He could have stolen another Coral Gold from the dumb kid in Gongshi Village, but hey, a man's gotta have standards.  If we enter Relics of our Ancestors during nighttime, we will be asked to leave by two guys in white clothes. Refusing to leave gets us attacked by an entire mob. Luckily these guys are pretty nice and do not actually kill us when we lose, they just dump us at the entrance with 1 HP remaining.  Siwang takes the beating philosophically and continues northwards. Crossing another river, he arrives at Zhangren Village, briefly talking to the horseman before moving on.  Further north, the First Fortune Winery. If we were here in the day, there would be a guy washing his feet in this pond because he hates the winery and they draw the water for the wine here.  An actual enemy we can fight! Siwang has been avoiding tigers and bears on the way here.  Finally, we arrive at our destination - the Tibetan Herb Shed.  It's... it's beautiful. Siwang goes briefly insane as he picks up every herb in the vicinity, which is a lot.  A mysterious cave with a green-glowing mist. Clearly poisonous, Siwang avoids it.  This is the lady we're here to find, Cheng Yanhua. Alas, we'll have to come back during business hours.  No... Jinpeng... don't abandon me... Crimson... I leave via horseman and follow up on some sidequests before coming back bright and early the next morning. Don't you hate it when you turn up for a doctor's appointment and the doctor's not there? Siwang passes the time by eavesdropping on the conversation between the mother and child in front of him.  What? You say that you saw with your own eyes your father and that lowly maid hugging each other? When did this happen, explain clearly! Well... after mother scolded father the last time, he took me shopping, and then he took me to a place with many pretty big sisters, called... I waited at the door. There were so many people there, I was scared, and I wanted to find father. And then I saw... What? What did you see? I saw him... and an elder brother... together. What? Where did this man come from? Wasn't he in a brothel? I don't know? The pretty sister brought me back to the door, and then when father came out he gave me a lot of candy and told me not to tell anyone. Arrgh... I'm going to faint! You bastard, I'm going to ask Doctor Chen to give me some arsenic to poison you with! Scum! The doctor finally arrives. Cheng Yanhua politely tells us to line up if we want a consultation, but since Siwang is a wuxia protagonist, he deftly sidesteps the queue by talking to the doctor directly, which triggers a cutscene. All the other doctors said that they could do nothing and advised me to prepare for my funeral. Great sir, please save me.  Indeed, looking at your illness, they are correct. There is nothing a common doctor could do to save you. Your condition is different and cannot be judged by common sense. Let me consider this... hmmm... mmm... There is a method I can use, the question is, can your body handle the weight of the medicine? The pills I intend to use are very powerful, and contain several types of heat. Doctor Chen, I have a family to feed, so I'll grit my teeth and endure. I can definitely get through, please help me! Very well. I'll take care of you for a while, and if your condition improves enough, I'll make up and administer the pills. Madam Cheng, please prepare a bed and take Uncle Shui there. Yes sir.  Doctor Chen, is it because of the sickness in Uncle Shui's body, that you look so preoccupied since you took him in? Alas, it is not the illness itself, but how he contracted it that concerns me. How so? The symptoms resemble a malady, but I fear they are the signs of a poison derived from the Tian Shui Poison Toad. Tian Shui Poison Toad? A rare and insidious species found only in a certain damp and unpleasant valley. Yet I do not believe any of Uncle Shui's family could have visited that valley. Therefore, he was deliberately poisoned. I happen to know a man who enjoys poisoning people. Indeed, he would practice his art not only on others, but even also himself. A malicious and jealous man, good at using poison to control the will of other people. He used to say, "It is no big thing to poison another to death. True skill lies in poisoning them such that they live on the verge, unable to die, unable to live, unable to escape!" How sinister! That man... could it be... your brother? You are a kind hearted woman, Madam Cheng, and this man's tactics and personality are far beyond your imagination. Please go back first. I have something to say to the little brother hiding behind that tree. Huh? Who, me? Little brother, you are a guest, I won't hurt you. Please come forward. In you, I see a shadow of my former self... (Hey, I'm a lot more handsome than you are! Don't project!) Therefore, I have a favour to ask of you, which will likewise be of great benefit to yourself. Since we are so alike, I know you will not refuse. What happens if I refuse?  Alas, as I have sworn not to kill again, I will simply let you leave. Although to keep you silent, I will chase you, and remove your tongue, blind your eyes, deafen your ears and cut off your hands, so that you do not speak of what you have heard here today. ... please don't say such terrible things in such a sorrowful tone of voice. To cure the Tian Shui Poison Toad poison, I will need some rare herbs from the cave to the north. Ordinarily, I would go myself, but as I suspect my younger brother is involved, it would be inconvenient for me to leave this place. Take this pill, it will protect you from the miasma that guards against trespassers. Doctor Chen also asks Siwang to collect some tiger bones and goat's blood. You may have difficulty picking the rare herbs correctly, so you may take Madam Cheng with you. Although her martial skills are poor, she has been practicing medicine for some time, and she has learned my unique harvesting techniques. I believe she may be of great use to you.  Siwang goes back to Cheng Yanhua's hut, where she is having dinner with her daughter.  Mother, Mr Chen treats us very well. He says that Mother needs to be nourished, and that we'll have good medicinal food for every meal. Eat more. Indeed, Doctor Chen is so kind to us, while your mother can do but little to repay him... Don't worry, Mother. I will also help with the patients that come for treatment, so Mother can have more time to study medicine too. Haha, what a clever and precocious child I have. Hehe. Lady Cheng, Doctor Chen sent me regarding the cave... Very well. Doctor Chen has already explained it to me. Cheng Yanhua joins the party!  Are you going into the cave with Mother? Please be careful and protect Mother, big brother!Don't worry, kid, Siwang isn't going anywhere near that cave for now.  Cheng Yanhua is a Soft Fist-user, although as Doctor Chen has pointed out, she isn't very good at fighting.  She has a terrible Qi score of 30 and a whopping 86 in Medical, as well as the healing and buffing techniques she comes with.  Soft is technically a tanking tree and the capstone technique "Four taels of gold" reflects damage taken if the special move procs. Normally, by the time Cheng Yanhua joins the party, she'll be too weak to contribute usefully to the frontline. This early on, I think she could develop into a passable tank. Next time on Ho Tu Lo Shu: We finally get around to saving that bear. sandorius fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Feb 11, 2023 |
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Feb 11, 2023 16:15
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vilkacis posted:Bear time Oh my god. I've been playing at 1600x900 all this time and the text is so much clearer at 1920x1080. Thank you so much. I've put 100+ hours into this game and cursed the blurry text all the while.  1600x900  1920x1080
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Feb 13, 2023 13:48
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Update 8: Gongshi Village: Sidequesting 2 There's been only one thing on Siwang's mind since he saw the 4 hunters menancing a bear a few days back. He fast travels back to Gongshi Village with Cheng Yanhua in tow, triggers the bearhunter event, and confidently chooses to side with the bear. With the bear included his squad outnumbers the hunters 5 to 4.  If Siwang had chosen to help the hunters, they would have warned him of a dangerous man-eating bear in the mountains. But that was the road not taken, so... What's wrong with you, man? Animal cruelty is not allowed! Our squad immediately KO's one hunter and spreads out to distract the other hunters from focusing on the bear. Unfortunately, in doing so, Luo Yuanyu ends his turn a little too close to the bear, and the bear bites him. Ouch! Of the three hunters, two choose to target Luo Yuanyu and Duan Siping with their bows, and only one goes for the bear. Even so, the bear takes significant damage, and Cheng Yanhua moves in to try and heal the bear. Ouch! Look, bear, I helped you to get rid of that crowd! Hrrggh! Are... are you trying to eat me? You ungrateful beast!Hands up those who saw this coming a mile away.  Thankfully Cheng Yanhua is on top of things. Although severely wounded herself, she uses the Pill King God technique on Luo Yuanyu to heal him.  At this stage in the game it's pretty much a full heal. It costs 6 AP and she regenerates 6 AP per turn so she can do this all day as long as she stands still and doesn't run out of internal energy.  Want to eat me? You're a hundred years too early.Indeed, Siwang has been grinding sidequests while waiting for his appointment with Dr. Chen. (This bit of sidequesting was done before recruiting Cheng Yanhua while waiting for the doctor to wake up.)  Since Siwang is now slightly evil from siding with the three starving beggar children, Iron Crutch will talk to him now. How many times do I have to tell you this? Spread limedust in the wind, kick them in the crotch and then stick them in the eyes! Take them by surprise and... wait, someone's listening to us! Yo, that's a lot of moves! Hey, I know you, you're the new guy in the village! You're... you're not a good man! Haha, seems like we can be good friends then! Hahaha! My master was kicked out of Gongshi village many years ago and is not allowed to beg there. Pooh, it was only a few chickens, watching a few women bathe, some bags of food... these villagers are really narrow-minded! The way I heard it, master stole a chicken every day for a month. You know, this village is "no chicken left behind", and not to mention the peeking incident... Enough, enough! You really know how to expose master's bottom! Hey, young man, I'm telling you, any enemy of Gongshi Village is a friend of mine. You have my full support to continue harassing them.He then gives us a sutra containing dirty fighting techniques.  Hehe... not a local, and not a good-looking guy, I can finally get rid of the stuff I stole!I'm choosing to believe that Seven here meant that Siwang looked evil.  Luo Yuanyu chimes in if you talk to them while he is in the party. Yes, one is a cheat, and one is a thief, and one is unscrupulous, they are a perfect match. But on the other hand I helped them set up the fire and shed there, to prevent them from being disturbed at night. They have a habit of quietly burying the good things they get rather than leave them on their bodies, in the field on the left. Look around and see if you can find anything good.This nets us a chewed-on 1000-year lingzhi, which gives a little bit of Max HP at the cost of being slightly grossed out.  Siwang also went back to the angry bull with scars on its horns. He found the farmer's brother angrily confronting the bull. You beast, you actually swallowed my goodies in one gulp! Spit it out, dammit, that's the jade pendant I managed to steal and a whole packet of valuable medicine! ...! Who's there! Isn't this Uncle Man's precious Blackie? Are you trying to make it into beef sauce now? drat, you've seen too much. I'll have to kill you!This triggers a fairly easy duel, especially since Blackie joins in as an ally.  You... don't come over, what are you doing... I'll call someone! - Get out of this village, and stop trying to harm people! - Leave the money and I'll consider giving you a way out. - Haha, why not call your grandfather, you'll be meeting him soon. - Hmmm... it's hard to decide, what should I do? Siwang chose to let him go, so as to gain righteousness. I do intend to hold a vote on evilness/righteousness later once we are able to recruit our first evil-restricted companion, if necessary Siwang can just slaughter chickens and ascend to pure evil easily.  Farmer Man gives Siwang some food as a reward, but the real treasure lies here, in this pile of bullshit.  Very nice. I think Blitz in this case refers to Critical chance, and I think it works even if the equipping character doesn't have talent points in Hard. I hope Siwang washed it well.  Remember the guy in the inn who lost his sword? There was a monkey outside the inn when Siwang went back there. Hey, are you observing me? What a strange monkey.It then runs away and naturally Siwang gives chase.  The monkey scratches Siwang when he catches up, and Siwang could have killed both the monkey and the dumb kid to get the sword back. But Siwang is clearly an animal-lover at heart, and refrains from violence. It hurts... Why did you bite me, monkey? What did I do to the kid? Ugh, a monkey and a dumb kid... what do you mean by pointing over there? Do you want me to follow you? Please run slower this time, I'm all tired out from chasing you... The monkey leads Siwang to a bamboo grove with two injured monkeys. Siwang uses his medical skill to treat the sword wounds, when suddenly they are attacked by wild boars! While Siwang could have sided with the boars, they would have turned on him afterwards.  The monkey then gives Siwang the drunk's sword, as well as a hidden weapons sutra. Later, when Siwang returns the sword to the drunk, he learns that the drunk swordsman was slashing randomly at the monkeys and after injuring two of them, got his sword stolen.  The real reward isn't the money the drunk gives Siwang, but rather "Throwing at birds in the dense forest". Once Siwang learns the capstone technique, it will deal 208 base damage for 80 internal energy and 3 AP, which pretty much obsoletes "Meteor Throwing" at 130 base damage for 3 AP. It also has a slightly longer minimum/maximum range, and inflicts a small debuff as well. "Cave" value means seal, which decreases enemy AP regeneration. It won't really take effect until you stack it up to 30 or 40 points, though.  An overjoyed Siwang goes dancing on the haypile of herbs he was told to stay away from.  The cock wasn't abducted after all! He was hiding from the ladies in the haypile!   Gobble gobble! Coo! Waaah! There really was something inside the straw pile! Wait... doesn't that mean I was kicking it in the head repeatedly? Combat! Fear the King of the Roosters and his technique "The Great Rooster Pecking"!  Cluck cluck cluck! (God... I've actually... I've actually learned some amazing techniques from this large rooster.) Ugh, what am I doing...It's not too evident in the screenshot, but Siwang is bowing his head and giving a respectful open palm/closed fist salute to the rooster. The spar with the rooster has in fact increased his Qinggong. The rooster simply clucks and runs away.  The herb lady laments the loss of the rooster. You've scared away Saffron, now how can we grow strong herbs here? The herbs were so good because of the chicken fertilizer... It's not Siwang's problem and also Saffron left behind a nice feather that gives 6% chance to dodge. Thank you Master Saffron.  Now that the bear hunters have been dealt with, Siwang continues running southwest, taking out random wildlife and scattered banditry. It appears that the ominous red building on the map to the southwest of Gongshi Village is actually a bandit stronghold!  There are lots of bandits around but since they are bandits they aren't really patrolling the place, so it is trivial for Siwang to sneak in and rob the place. Actually there isn't really anything to rob except for some spare clothing, these are surprisingly poor bandits.  But hey it's been a while since Siwang got some new clothing. Sadly it doesn't prevent bandits from aggroing Siwang, it must be his heroic protagonist aura.  This is clearly a tiger skin throne, why is this place called the Leopard King Stronghold then? And he has "Loyalty" and "Righteousness" calligraphy on the walls as well, maybe he has a weird sense of humour?  Seen here, the entire bandit stronghold waking up and trying to kill Siwang. I have to load a save, these are Rank 25 bandits and Siwang and co are only around Rank 11. The Leopard King isn't even around, these are just ordinary mooks.  But there is something here for Siwang to do - rescue some hapless captives. Zhao An here is stuck in a cage and begs Siwang to rescue his sister.  If Siwang has already fought in the bandit camp, the sister will be dead and the quest will fail.  - Two grown men bullying a girl, shame on you! - Don't mind me, you guys continue. Siwang naturally takes the righteous choice and fights the two bandits. Even though Siwang's party outnumbers them 4 to 2, it is not an easy fight. Good prevails, and Siwang steals a key off a sleeping bandit to free Zhao An. I failed this quest on my first playthrough because I went in through the front door of the stronghold and killed all the bandits. Zhao An will still give the quest, but you will fail it on entering the indicated house. I'm glad I got it right this time.  On the way back to the village, Siwang meets and fights some guy who wrote him a letter of challenge the last time he slept at the village inn. This nets him a blade sutra, "Yellow Sand Blade".  An NPC conveniently labled "Book Thief" is rooting about the field outside the blacksmith's house. As you may recall, the blacksmith had been robbed, but his grandmother held on to the family fist sutra and the thief was only able to escape with three pages. Must be a pretty good sutra if it gives you that much finger strength.  I can't believe there's a random kid in the way! Don't think I can't handle you, even in the middle of the night!Siwang wins the duel easily, especially since the book thief is also a hidden weapon users and so Siwang doesn't have to waste AP running out of melee range.  The blacksmith thanks Siwang for his help and offers him a copy of the "Iron Sand Palm" sutra if he can find the three missing pages. There's one in the field, one on the roof and I think one more under some sacks of grain.  There isn't anything else to do at night in Gongshi Village, so Siwang heads northwest and finds a girl tending to an injured man on the banks of a small stream.  Sister, as I said, that guy Li Tan saved us not because of your beauty, but because he has other sinister plans for us. This is the first time you have left the mountains, you don't know what it's like outside. Don't trust anyone except Brother and Master, OK?  Don't exert yourself too much, Brother. I'll get you some red peony to stop the bleeding. That shameless Minister Dongchuan, not only did he ignore us when we warned him about Li Tan, but he then blamed us when he was robbed by Li Tan! I don't understand why Li Tan stopped the Minister's men and saved us, though. We've been chasing him for so long, wouldn't it be better for him if we got killed? I don't care what he's thinking, I would rather die than be saved by Li Tan! Before he left, Li Tan said, "Heroes are not always heroes, and thieves are not always thieves, so even a thief can be a hero sometimes." What did he mean? Is he a good guy now even though he stole from someone? Ah, Brother, your wound has opened up again! We should find a better place for you to rest and heal. (Hmmm? This man seems to be badly hurt, I have some medicine on me, should I give it to him?) Ah, thank you very much. Little sister! You have little experience in the martial arts world, you don't know if this man is an enemy or friend! What if this is poison? I see... Brother is right. Thank you, kind sir, please take back your medicine, we can handle this ourselves.Look, the bandit costume is loot, OK? Siwang isn't actually a bandit... hey, are you listening? Stop backing away!  Slightly peeved at the discrimination faced by people wearing eyepatches and spiky shoulders, Siwang continues northwards and finds a posse of guards looking for someone. Strange, he has disappeared, can this old man use magic? There are three guards actually searching and one standing idle in the middle of the road. Clearly, he must be the one in charge, so Siwang asks him who they are looking for. Hmmph. That old man gambled with a few of our brothers in dice, and dared to go back on his word after losing. I can't believe that old man is still so spry! He disappeared after losing in the blink of an eye. When we find him, I'll make sure he gets a good beating! Brother Siwang, it sounds like this old man has hidden depths, let's go look for him. The old man in question is down here by the riverbank. Hey old man, aren't you a little too old to be playing hide-and-seek? Shhh! Be quiet. Now that Siwang has found the old man in question, he can go back and talk to the head guard. But what does he say? Please vote: - Help the guards, tell them the old man is hiding behind a bush on the riverbank. - Help the old man, tell them the old barker ran east along the road. - Ignore the situation and claim not to have seen the old man.
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Feb 13, 2023 13:58
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Sure, go ahead and post about alternate paths and things missed if you want. I would appreciate it if you didn't post in plaintext about locations we haven't really been to, like Dayan Town or the Jade Stone Gang, but the area around Gongshi Village is fine. If you do have questions about other areas you can just use spoiler text. Some quests I have left out because they are kind of boring, like the "cook a bun" one the innkeeper gives. Some are just being left for later because Siwang has no wine. No doubt there are more that I have missed. But if you want to ask about the jade coin, or the beast taming sutra and the house of cats, or how Qi Xiaoer is a hilarious parody of a female wuxia protagonist, be my guest.
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Feb 14, 2023 06:17
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Update 9: Gongshi Village: Sidequesting 3 Siwang tries to misdirect the guards away from the old man.  The old barker ran east along this road. What? Damned old man, this way boys! Brother, are you sure this will work?Of course it will, look at how easily those guards fell for it! Let's go back and talk to the old man, I'm sure he will reward us.  Kid, are you trying to help me or hurt me? Didn't you see me just get rid of those guards? Haha, as expected! The kid looks like a thief, I thought he must be the old man's accomplice! Thanks to this fool, we managed to find the old man.Awww crap.  I was found out? How stupid do you think I am? Who would fall for a lie like that? Aiyaa, where did this little baby come from, such a disaster... Cut the crap! Everyone, let's teach these two a lesson!Combat starts, but the old man is nowhere to found.  Dumbass, what is that old man to you? He left you here in the chaos and you're still fighting for him with your life? What is wrong with you? Ugh, never mind, the old man is gone, let's go. Well, that didn't go well. Let's load a save and try again.  If Siwang had gone a bit further south during the day, the guards would have been sitting around complaining about rockfalls along this path. And conveniently, there's a boulder up here which Siwang can interact with.  This boulder seems to be a little loose, should I push it off the cliff? !!! I'm not risking my life for that old bag!Several boulders rain down on the path and the guards run back south. Siwang raises a middle finger in their general direction and jumps down to collect his reward.  Hahaha! I'm so lucky, those rocks fell at exactly the right moment. Actually, it was me who pushed those rocks off the cliff. Oh? And why did you do that, little doll? To help you out, look at you, you're so old, if those men catch you, they'll break every bone in your body. Hahaha, what a clever little doll. Since you and I seem to share a destiny, I wonder if little doll can do this old man a small favour? With what? I'm ashamed to say, I've had a run of bad luck. I lost ten out of ten bets, and on the last bet I lost my grandson's best defence, the Gold Vest. Little doll, why don't you help this old man get back my grandson's Gold Vest? This old dog may have some tricks to teach you.  It's only common sense to accept defeat if you gamble and lose. Brother Gui, let's move on. Alas, an old man like me, with one foot in the coffin, and I am still subjected to the taunts of young people. It is the fate of people to be subjected to the unpredictable whims of the universe. Alright, I'll go and collect it for you, but I can't guarantee you I can get it back.A quest chain this involved has to result in something good, right?  Brother Gui, let's do this. It's not a bad thing to try and help people. Brother Luo, you seem especially motivated today. You don't understand, Brother Gui, this senior citizen isn't afraid to face off with those common guards, but rather, he is too embarrassed to do so. It is no bad thing for him to owe us a favour. Siwang can actually just walk up to the head guard and ask him to sell us the Gold Vest. Hmmph. Are these gold threads real or not? Did that old man cheat me? The Gold Vest, being made of gold, sells for a pretty sum. 15,000 money is approximately ten times of what Siwang has in his wallet (repairing the Thunderbolt is pretty expensive). For reference, 26-29 mitigation is triple the 8-9 mitigation that Kongjin's free leather jacket gives. Of course, there are always less ethical alternatives...  Deciding to come back to this situation later, Siwang enters a nearby cave and work off his frustation on the bandits and crocodiles hiding inside. Huh, a little crocodile. Looks like it's stuck under a rock. Awww, look at those small teeth and big round eyes.  Siwang could free it, or he could make it into this sweet little undervest. Baby Crocodile Soft Armor: "In the Undercurrent Cave you found a small whining crocodile stuck in a crack, and you chose to force it out to make this armor. The finest quality cephalad skin is selected to provide protection from the friction and excess calluses that may occur on your delicate skin. Keratin." It's no Gold Vest, but it's still double the protection of anything you can find at this stage in the game.  Exiting the cave, Siwang heads north. This is some sort of inn or wayside rest stop, note the "Tea" sign on the stall to the right. A helpful nametag identifies these two travellers as being from the Hundred Beast Village Gang.  Gee, I'm no good with cats...Dude, you are not helping the reputation of the Hundred Beast Village Gang here.  Inside, cats. Hi, Mina.  Even more cats, doing that thing where they stare intently at nothing at all.  Haha, this house is full of cats, that's great! I am the third scion of the Hundred Beasts Villa, Ji Mei Xiang, what can I do for you, handsome boy? Third Miss, you can't just suddenly call someone a handsome boy, that's rude! Oh, is that so? No, it's OK. I am in fact quite handsome. Hahaha! I like your personality, handsome boy! Third Miss, please don't say such things to random men you meet on the road... There are many powerful birds and beasts in the land of Shu, if you're lucky enough to meet them, don't let them go! She gives Siwang "The Book of Beasts", before pointing him at Widowmaker and striding off in the general direction of the Festive Feast Hall. This sutra lets Siwang tame beast companions and power them up as well. Only certain animals, or "Beast Kings", can be tamed.  Siwang, eager to catch his first Generally speaking mountains in this game are well worth climbing, there's often a little something on top, even if only an ore vein.  His search for XP takes him further east, where he finds this prayer cushion in just the right spot to meditate and watch the sunrise.  The sunrise is indeed touching... but my bones feel like they're falling apart. After fifteen ardous nights of repeated prayer and contemplation Siwang obtains a new sutra! Aha! I've got it! The person who created this martial art is a genius for incorporating martial arts into Buddhist teachings! Or, he could simply tear up the prayer cushion and find the same sutra without all that fuss and bother.  "Buddhist Lion Roar" is probably very powerful, but since it has a whopping Qi prerequisite of 150, Siwang is quite a ways away from learning it. For now, he can only shelve his dreams of becoming the Dovahkiin.  The sun has risen, so still chasing XP, Siwang returns to Gongshi Village to turn in some sidequests. On the way back, he runs into these two drunkards. Giving them some wine yields half a jade coin. The other half of the jade coin is in a wrecked cart to the east. RIP, random merchant.  Having progressed the blacksmith's sidequest, this guy is now free to make a dodgy request. See that man Mefuzi over there? Anyway, he has a little bag on him, go steal it for me and I'll give you two thousand money, how's that sound? Huh? Why are you asking me to steal, can't you do it yourself? I have too much presence, this is the kind of thing an evil and non-existent character like you was made for, alright? Just do it. This man! Brother Gui, do not listen to him! Also, Siwang turns in the boar bait quest and gets to dump even more rocks on some unsuspecting boars.  Gravity, bitches!  The hunter gives us some leather armor for our help. Crappy stuff, 9-10 mitigation, but better than the nothing we had on everyone except Siwang. I think it's time we killed some snakes, but before that, some votes! Gold Vest: -Buy from the guard -Steal from the guard -Taunt and fight the guards for it -Keep the Gold Vest for now -Return the Gold Vest to the old man immediately Soft Crocodile Armor: -Skin the young crocodile -Free the young crocodile Mefuzi's Bag: - Ignore the request - Steal the bag and open it - Steal the bag and turn it in. sandorius fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Feb 16, 2023 |
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Feb 15, 2023 11:26
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Update 10: Gongshi Village: The Snake Pit It's a tie! Three votes for returning the Gold Vest and three votes for keeping it. Siwang will be hanging on to the Gold Vest until he finally grows a conscience, which won't be anytime soon judging by the amount of stealing this thread is encouraging. Maybe in a few years when the old man's grandson is grown up, or something. Well, first he has to steal it, which is sort of difficult right now as the guards are all facing each other. It will have to wait until later.  In the cave, Siwang breaks the rock with a powerful punch and sets the young crocodile free. All right, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. Be careful from now on, don't get stuck again, if you meet someone else you'll really end up as a defensive gear...The young crocodile scuttles away and Siwang is left with a slight righteousness boost warming his heart. Which he needs because he's given his leather jacket to Luo Yuanyu, who has shown a distressing tendency to get beaten up on.  Up on the hills above the cave, there's a lone statue of a land god with a suspicously jade-coin sized indentation in its left palm.  Naturally, Siwang puts his jade coin in.  A scroll! Thank you, land god.  The "Mianpaw" fist art appears to focus on dealing internal injuries, which damage the attacker when they use a technique. Sadly, it is also a Yin art, so Siwang might not find good use for it. Could be good on Cheng Yanhua. I have been reliably informed that this "Mian" means cotton and not warding, so Cottonpaw Art might be appropriate  The real reward for this sidequest is hidden here, in the Achievements menu. Completing this sidequest grants one talent point for Siwang. This is one of the more annoying quests in the game because there are no pointers to the location of this statue or the two halves of the jade coin. I spent a lot of time fruitlessly looking for those two drunkards.  Fortified with the blessing of the Land God Siwang decides it's finally time to tackle the Snake Cave. Just outside, this old granny laments the death of her son, and warns us not to go in.  Some poor guy didn't listen to Granny May and is now surrounded by snakes.  Oh no! Brother Gui, let us save that man! The snakes are balanced for a beginner duo with Duan Siping, and pose very little threat to Siwang's party now. It doesn't help that poison isn't a particularly debilitating ailment in this game, all it does is drain internal energy / MP.  Leave me for later... my friend... he was bitten by a snake in the cave, please get him out, quickly! With sufficient Medical skill in the party, Siwang can render the man a bit of emergency first aid to gain some righteousness.  The cave is filled with ores and snakes, neither of which are particularly dangerous, and Siwang soon makes his way to the top chamber, where he finds this poor soul. Is this poor guy the friend of the man outside? He seems to have stopped breathing a long time ago... I'd better go out and tell him the unfortunate news. There's a leather pouch here... and some blood? Brother Gui, this blood is still wet. The blood is fresh, it can't have been more than an hour since it was shed. In the first place, why would there be so much blood from a snakebite? There's some kind of resin inside the pouch. I don't know what it is, but it smells fragrant.  Siwang could return to the man at the entrance now, but instead he goes back to the corpse and turns it over. This man has a deep cut on his chest! Brother Gui, I'm afraid this must be the real cause of death for this person. Hmm... let's go ask the person outside for clarification. Unfortunately, your friend has died in the snake pit. What! Is he... was there anything around him, like a piece of black resin, or... or anything else? Well, yes, but... But what? But your friend was lying in a fresh pool of blood, and clearly he died from the stab wound to his chest, and not a snakebite. ... Little brother, I advise you leave this matter alone. Give me the resin and I'll trade you a secret of kung fu. How's that? Siwang takes the deal. "Bashing Mountain Fist" is an Yang-aligned Inner Working sutra that boosts Qi and increases damage when equipped.  If Siwang had chosen to keep the resin, the man would have attacked him, and Siwang would have interrogated him after winning. This resin... it's made from an exotic tree from Hmong province, and mixed with various rare herbs, it has to be prepared with nine steams and nine drips for 81 days. It's an amazing tonic that can prolong your life and strengthen your body! I am here on the orders of the Leopard King to take this treasure. Please forgive me, I had no choice... The Leopard King? The Leopard King is the most famous bandit around here, he has a fort up in the mountains to the south and likes to collect treasures from all over the world.Lies, Siwang has already been to the fort and all he managed to steal was two captives and a bandit costume. I'm just a humble servant, if you let me live, I'll lead a life free of crime from now on! In any case, the Wu Zhi Xian Dew simply grants a bit of Max HP and is clearly inferior to a new sutra.  In the depths of the cave below lurks the Serpent King. It's got a different colour, so clearly it must be more powerful than the other snakes.  Brother Duan, this snake seems different from those poisonous snakes we encountered just now. Indeed, it must be the king of the snakes in this snake pit! Brother Gui, let's get rid of it, so that it doesn't trouble the villagers again! The fight is not too difficult. Seen here, a rare instance of a line-shaped sword technique managing to hit two enemies at once. Alas, despite being called a King, the beast taming sutra does not work on it.  This Snake King is such a nuisance! Ah, but it is so cute, couldn't sir please let it off? And who might you be, miss? Shouldn't a gentleman be first to introduce himself? How might I address sir? Please forgive me, I do not freely give my name to anyone suspicious. Oh my, for a grown man to cover up his name like that, is there some secret shame to it? Well, if you don't want to tell me, I won't force it out of you. How about this gentleman over here? Are you as shy as your companion? (Brother Duan, why are you wincing? Have you never talked to a Hmong woman before? Let me show you how it's done!) I am not ashamed of either name or surname! Gui is my surname and Siwang is my name, now and forever! Are we clear? Oh, Master Gui is much less stuffy than the warrior next to him. Let's talk then, you and me. Could you let me have that snake? Well... Brother Gui, we don't know where this woman is from, who she's with, or what she intends with the snake. The Snake King is a disaster, let's kill it and cut off the trouble at the source. Oh, I'm not so evil-minded, Master Gui, just let me have this good boy and I'll definitely repay you well.He Baishao here uses a weird pronoun "nu" that auto-translate has decided means slave, which is not incorrect but in context is more of a "your humble servant" vibe. She's also dressed as a tribal minority, the "Miao" or Hmong, which pop up all the time in wuxia stories as exotic poison users.  - I'm sorry, Miss, but we must kill the Snake King. - Since you asked so nicely, I'll let you have the Snake King!  If Siwang chooses to kill the Snake King he'll end up in a fight. He Baishao is quite strong for this stage of the game but is also badly outnumbered. Given the general attitude towards animals in this thread, I'm fairly sure I can tell which way this vote will go, but just to make sure: Please vote: - Kill the Snake King, fight He Baishao. - Give the Snake King to He Baishao. sandorius fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Feb 17, 2023 |
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Feb 16, 2023 15:07
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Update 11: The Bucket Trick This is a short non-canon interlude, and the Wuxia Adventurer's Association does not condone the abuse of object physics to rob innocent travelers, even if they insist on carrying valuable martial arts sutras whilst in the Jianghu.  In another universe, Siwang wakes up screaming and runs madly to Dayan Town. This lady is being robbed, but Siwang don't care.  His sole objective is this unassuming box in the He family stables.  See, when Siwang met Qi Xiaoer and her martial brother, he tried to rob him. It didn't work because Qi Xiaoer is facing Dong Guoqiang and will easily detect any attempts at thievery (and vice versa Dong Guoqiang will shut down any attempts to steal from Qi Xiaoer).  But with this box, Siwang can - no wait - ugh, wrong location.  Perfect.  Siwang succeeds on a 14% chance to steal this item, on the third try. He's definitely been blessed by the god of thieves.  The Everlasting Winter Sword Manual is a rare Double Sword technique that applies damage bonuses from both primary and secondary weapon slots, which must both contain swords. Seasoned RPG veterans will no doubt remember you could do the same thing with a bucket in Skyrim. Unfortunately Qi Xiaoer and Dong Guoqiang move on after completing the snake cave, and I am already a few hours past that point, but I felt that I had to load a save to show this off. I had no idea this could be done, it's pure luck that I stumbled across this while looking for another cave.
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Feb 17, 2023 12:38
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Update 12: Gongshi Village: Making New Friends Indeed, the snake is so adorable, how can Siwang kill it? Since you asked so nicely, I'll let you have the Snake King! Brother Gui! Brother Duan, this girl is so beauti - I mean, she is so compassionate, caring for this snake, we should let her take it. Beside, the Hmong people have always been good at poisonous things, so it's appropriate for them to take care of the Snake King. Since Brother Gui has spoken, I will say no more. Indeed, the Duan family has no conflict with the Hmong tribe.  Master Gui, how kind of you to convince the warrior here for me. As promised, please take this in payment. Huh? This is... the Five Poison Sutra? Do you like it? If I'm in trouble next time, please come and help me, kind sir! Good boy, come to your elder sister. Such a good boy, come, let's go home together. This Hmong girl can even tame snakes! If I could be certain which tribe she is from... I could get her to help me. Brother Duan, why are you muttering to yourself? Brother Gui, to be honest with you, I have major plans for the future. I see that Brother Gui is a skilled and courageous man, if you have no objections, I would like your help. (Major plans? This smells like trouble...) Let us speak about this later. The doctor is waiting for our report. The Five Poison Sutra allows Siwang to pick up poisonous animals without accidentally poisoning himself. If he collects 2 snakes, 2 toads, 2 scorpions, 2 spiders and 2 centipedes, he can then refine them into a single dose of Five Poison Powder, which will allow him do approximately 100 extra damage on a single strike, and is then consumed. Yeah, it's terrible. But the damage does scale with evil, so I guess it might be useful for people who really want to roleplay as a nefarious venom master.  Yo, doctor, we're back! The two brave warriors! Are you alright? Thank Heavens, you survived the snake cave... Do not worry, doctor, we have removed the snakes from the snake cave, so the villagers need not fear anymore. There was a king of snakes in the snake cave, but we were unable to capture it. Doctor, please do your best to come up with an antidote. Very well, I shall do my best! Here are some medicinal pills, please take them as a token of my appreciation. I won't stand on courtesy then! Thank you, Doctor! Brother Duan, the plans you mentioned... If you don't mind, Brother Gui, I will explain everything from the beginning at my humble abode. It is located in Dayan Town, to the west. Please allow me to accompany you there, and enjoy the scenery on the way. If Siwang had killed the Snake King, he would have gotten this medicinal sutra from the doctor, as well as the Snake King Gall Bladder, which boosts Max HP. Good thing Siwang can steal it off him.  Siwang also takes the opportunity to lift Mefuzi's bag off him.  Hmm... I wonder what's in this bag, should I open it and see? - My hands are so itchy, I can't bear not to open it! - I am suddenly afflicted with a strange sense of morality!  Nice rock! ...This mani stone increases unload rate, which is fairly useless, but hey, nice rock.  Did you steal it? Yes, it's just a tattered old bag, I don't know why you wanted it. Well... yes, it is this bag, but... how? Cut the crap, where's my payment? You shameless man! This is just a rotten sack, you dare ask me for a reward? Get out of here!Some A++ rules lawyering by Siwang there, but the questgiver is having none of it.  Siwang returns to the village elder to report the clearing of the snake cave. The villagers gather and there is general rejoicing.  Mei Hongqi orders her underlings to begin searching for both her daughter Xiaoqing as well as the slacking scholar Xu Xuke, the "Nan Xian" old man Kongjin asked Siwang to find.  (Ugh, only one team to find Xu Xuke? I might as well help find Xiaoqing and solve all the village's problems while I'm at it.) Village Chief, this girl Xiaoqing, she was abducted by someone? Sir has already helped us with the snake cave, how can we presume to trouble young master with this matter? The villagers have raised a small sum of silver, and in addition, please take this blue jade here. Young master can rest at our village inn, should there be any news, I will send someone to inform you.The proverb used here "Escorting the Buddha even to the uttermost west" is sort of a "In for a penny, in for a pound" or "Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb" meaning.  Siwang and company are actually in tip-top health, thanks to Cheng Yanhua. Having no need to rest, Siwang takes off into the night hunting mobs for XP, and comes across this man with a fishing pole. That's not a river below, that's flat earth. (This weirdo is fishing a hundred feet away from the water!) Who are you, little brother?- This humble one is Gui Siwang, greeting senior! - My name is Gui Siwang, and you, brother? Choosing the reserved option will net Siwang some ores, and the wild option some leather. In any case, the man explains that he is simply waiting for someone.  As Siwang leaves, there is a short cutscene. I've finally found you, Lupin! Oh? I wasn't running from you, though. Enough nonsense! I will avenge my family's death today! Come, then. Make an end of it. (Isn't that voice the mountain fisherman?) The dying fisherman gives Siwang a letter to take to the Tianlong Temple, also variously translated as the Cloud Dragon Temple or Tenryuuji Temple.  Siwang's real objective is here, in the northwestern fields. The Widowmaker! Wow, there are so many wild boars here. But I see no black pigs... Huh? There's a little black dot there! No way, it's so small! For reference the Widowmaker is the little black pig at the top right with glowing red eyes.  Wild boars are no threat at this point.  The Widowmaker is another story. Fear the Wild Boar Superstrike!  Repeated applications of the Beast Taming Sutra eventually bear fruit, and Siwang befriends the Widowmaker! This gives Siwang a title which, if equipped, will let Widowmaker join the battle as an ally.  The Widowmaker is indeed very fierce, but I didn't expect it to be so small. Eager to test out Widowmaker's prowess in battle, Siwang goes south in search of the man-eating bear the unfortunate bear hunters were looking for.  Amidst the remains of some unfortunate soul, Siwang finds a bamboo sutra, and turns around only to find...  Ho! So you're the legendary man-eating bear, and all the bones in this cave are leftover from your feeding, huh? Brother Bear, you have eaten countless people, today your judgement has come, and you deserve it. Widowmaker wasn't much use here because of the cramped quarters and also it was a five-on-one beatdown. "Flying Sand in the Sky" is a great find for Siwang, but he lacks the Hidden Weapon skill to make use of it for now.  Further to the east, Siwang meets some bandits and Widowmaker finally gets to show off his skills. Rushing into battle, he singlehandly solos the top half of the battlefield. The battle started off against six bandits and Widowmaker is shown here mulching his way through his second bandit.  A bit to the north, there are two suspicious men lurking about, helpfully labeled as "Grave Robbers".   Ugh, seems like poor pickings from this tomb. Ahem! Who... who are you! Why did you pop up without a sound? (Let me have some fun with this guy.) How can you say that? Aren't you the one in front of my house? Your house? You mean... oh my God! Ahhhh! (He fainted...) You don't have to play that game with me, I'm not as dumb as he is. You are perfectly healthy with good hands and feet, why are you even graverobbing? Let's not call it that, OK? It's just a bit of borrowing. Since the owner has no use for it anymore, why not let us brothers have it for a while? (This guy is really full of sophistry...) You just thought to yourself, this guy is really full of sophistry, didn't you? (No way, can this guy read my mind?) No, I can't read minds. It's just that I've been hearing voices ever since I started this business. Sometimes the voices are so loud, I can't even sleep at night... (Bro, this Yin-aligned stuff is making you fey.) Maybe I should get some help? (Maybe you should stop robbing graves!) I couldn't quite hear that, little brother, what did you say? Ugh, just go away! This is too weird for me. Poor tomb-owner, they must be really suffering. Listen, I helped you out this time, but next time I might not be around, OK? Anyway, rest in peace, goodbye. Thank you for your help, young master. Did I hear something? Let's just get out of here.  Atop a nearby mountain lurks another Beast King. Naturally Siwang is going to beat this one up and conscript it into his growing army, but he can only have one in combat. There will be others, but for now, which one is going to be his favourite? Please vote - The wild boar Widowmaker! - The monkey Hustle and Bustle! - The crocodile Swamp King Siwang ran away from several updates ago! sandorius fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Feb 18, 2023 |
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Feb 18, 2023 04:51
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Update 13: Gongshi Village: Cat Girl Quiz The people have spoken, Siwang shall return to the swamp and harass the king of the crocodiles until it gives up and joins the party. But first, some more mountain climbing.  Look, a wacky altar. Praise Sheogorath!  For some unfathomable reason it contains a Fruit of Wisdom, which Siwang immediately consumes. It boosts intelligence, which affects XP gain as well as some dialogue choices.  For the record, this is what happens if Siwang tries to leave the mapped area.  A strange box, containing one dragonball.  Some bandits being harassed by Hustle and Bustle, who is very fast and very dodgy but cannot inflict internal injuries like Widowmaker can.  An ominous shack, complete with deer skull over the entrance! Surely nothing bad can happen if Siwang goes in.  It's full of ore and bandit miners, which is sort of a contradiction in terms if you think about it. Are they still bandits if they have a steady job like mining? Alas, it seems Siwang has come here too early.  More strange boxes on mountain peaks!  The "Flaming Blade" sutra is our first modded sutra: "Tantric flaming sword, flaming waves, searing the heart."  600 damage potential for 6 AP, yeah, it's overpowered. Siwang won't be using this unless he gets really bored, and in any case, none of our party members are blade-users.  Nice, a burning effect that blocks healing and enhances trauma.  Just look at that passive node giving 10 Blade and 5 Yang! Wow.  Having had enough of killing bandits, Siwang follows the road towards the swamp. Here, he stops to chat with a woodcutter and buys some jujube wood off him.  Remember the house of cats? Since it's daytime now, the owner has come out of hiding and is available for conversation. There's a cave by the river with a Bodhisattva statue, and she spends her nights there.  I wonder how many more pots of tea I need to sell before I can go home? What? So you have to sell out before you go home? By the way, have you seen my cats? There are some very cute kids right here in my hut. Yes, I've seen them, they're very cute. If you go look at them and come back and answer my questions correctly, I'll give you something good! Got it! This is the view facing left from the door.  This is the view facing right from the door.  Question: how many cats do I have?- Seven! - Eight! - Two hundred!  Question: how many of my cats are lazybones who lie down all the time?- Four! - Six! - What cat is not a lazybone?  Question: Which cats are lying down on the round mat?- Bone and Em! - Rain and Mina! - Ah Hu and Ah Short! I promise Siwang is on his way to the swamp, but for now, let's try to answer Blu's cat quiz! - Seven! - Eight! - Two hundred! - Four! - Six! - What cat is not a lazybone? - Bone and Em! - Rain and Mina! - Ah Hu and Ah Short!
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Feb 18, 2023 08:43
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Update 14: Gongshi Village: Final Confrontation Congratulations to BraveLittleToaster for remembering Mina from Update 9!  Here's a gift for you, come back and visit the teahouse again.This nets Siwang a bunch of stat boosters - a Thousand-year Lingzhi, a Tianshan Snow Lotus and a Fruit of Wisdom. If Siwang had chosen the joke option "All cats are lazybones" or gotten one answer wrong he would only have received a Fruit of Wisdom. Pretty good for answering a few questions! Thank you cat lady.  Off to the east there's a monkey who will accept an apple for some Monkey Wine, which is apparently Grade A naturally fermented fruit wine or something.  Continuing the alcohol theme, there's a drunkard sleeping it off further east.  Are you drunk, old man? Who... who said I was drunk? I can drink ten times more before getting drunk!Suitably impressed by this old man's tolerance, Siwang gives him some more grain wine, freshly looted from a pack of bandits. In return, the old man offers him a choice of Thousand-year Lingzhi, some armour, and a shiny knife. Siwang takes the Thousand-year Lingzhi, you can never have enough Max HP.  Huh? This... it can't be! The black pig's tusks!Siwang then heads south to inform Patroller Wang Fu that Widowmaker has been... dealt with. Wang Fu immediately runs north to verify.  Oh, it's you, boy. Thanks to you, we can come back here and farm now. I'm just a coarse man, and have nothing else to give you, please take this white tiger skin passed down by my family.  Siwang finally gets around to revisiting the swamp. Crocodiles are pretty tanky and have a really annoying counterattack. Luo Yuanyu gets bitten multiple times and does not survive the battle (thankfully there is no perma-death on Hard difficulty).  The Lord of the Swamp feels somewhat slower than Widowmaker but has a pretty traumatic bite. Split ribs isn't a particularly useful debuff on a melee attack since it only reduces movement. I'm pretty sure it has the "Waiting for a rabbit" and "Yellow sparrow" talents too, which let it counterattack on enemy movement and attack on allies respectively.  Siwang goes back to Gongshi Village and forges some bearskin soft armour as well as a backup fist weapon. He could have used the white tiger skin he just got, but I think waiting for a higher tier of armour blueprints to become available is probably the right call. Crafting ingredients basically become better weapons/armour the more Hardness they have. Weight doesn't effect quality, but equipping too much Weight slows you down in combat.  There are various NPCs you can talk to about rumours every day. There will mostly be useless ones like "It seems like Blacksmith of Gongshi Village found an Apple!". However, sutras are on the item spawn list, and it seems that Siwang has hit the jackpot here! Is it true that 'Village Old Lady of Zhangren Village' accidentally found the secret to the Hidden Weapon Training and Bow Technique? Is it true that 'Soldier of Dayan Town' accidentally found the secret to 'Bone piercing and acupuncture points'? Siwang is able to fast travel to Zhangren Village because he came across it on his journey north to recruit Cheng Yanhua. Luckily, there is only one old lady in the village, unlike 'Soldier of Dayan Town', and Siwang immediately challenges grandma to a fight with the 'G' key. I suddenly want to beat you up. We are all civilized people here, why be so rough?Alas, it seems that the developers forgot to give this old villager any combat techniques. Or perhaps they had a conscience and disapproved of having the protagonist profit from beating old people up. Who knows?  In any case we are still able to steal from granny here. Unfortunately this is the same sutra Siwang found in the man-eating bear cave, but it's still good to have a copy.  Flush with loot, Siwang returns to Gongshi Village and finds a villager waiting for him outside the inn, who invites him to join the hunt for Xu Xuke, the debtor scholar.  He follows the man outside the village. Look at all this people here to thank Siwang for dealing with the snake infestation! No, wait, they're here to kill Siwang. Good luck with that, idiots.  Oooh... ugh... great warrior, spare my life! Unbelievable, how can there be scum like you in this village? Who put you up to this? Speak up! We're from the Leopard King's Stronghold, Master Mei approached our chief one day and said he could take over Gongshi Village with his help... Master Mei? You mean... that aggressive brother of the village chief? Yes, exactly! He used the snake infestation and got some villagers to help kidnap that little Xiaoqing girl to use as blackmail! She is being held in a cave in the mountains behind the village. Using a litle girl as a hostage, how despicable! We don't know how many bandits are in the village, if we go and tell the village chief, we may alert that snake. Let's go to the cave and ensure Xiaoqing's safety first. Brother Gui is right! A helpful quest marker indicates Xiaoqing's location, where several bandits are trying to deal with her crying.  Stop, wicked thieves! Release the girl!Siwang is here to save the day! The bandits resist, but are no match for the combined power of Siwang and the Lord of the Swamp.  Little sister, are you OK? Oooh... thank you, big brother. Let's go back to Gongshi Village, your mother needs your help.  Back at the village chief's home, there's some kind of confrontation going on. Some poor fools try to stop Siwang from entering and get Thunderbolted for their trouble. That voice... I remember you! It was you, you're the one who kidnapped me! Why did you do it? Bad uncle! Bad guy! Sister, though you found someone to get rid of the snake infestation, you have yet to address the matter of my neice, who has been missing for many days. Could you not come up with a solution? Xiaoqing is my daughter, of course I will find a way to deal with it. It's not for an outsider like you to worry about it anyway. That's right, our village chief went to great lengths to get rid of the snake problem, what did you do besides complain? If you're really capable, why don't you go find Xiaoqing yourself? Shut up! We support the village chief! Ungrateful peasants! Shut the gently caress up! I'll punch the next person who yells at me! Calm down, everyone. I've already found Xiaoqing and saved her from the kidnappers. What? You found Xiaoqing? After all, I am much more capable than you, my dear sister. Isn't it time for you to admit your incompetence and step down as village chief? Mom! Mom! What? How did that girl...? Boss, boss, now what? Your plan is ruined! Xiaoqing, tell everyone who captured you! It was him! Bad uncle, you took Xiaoqing away, big brother here defeated the bad guys and saved me! Mei Xinghe... you! Tch. Little brat, you have disrupted my plan. Now for the consequences. Leopard King's Fort, do your work. Kill one and the others will fall in line! These ungrateful fools will learn to be obedient! Arrg! Sister, do you really think you can defeat me? You have no idea how long I've been preparing for this day. You! Do you really think the people will allow you to get away with this? Even with your violence, when I report this to the government... The government! Hahaha! Even if they cared about a remote village like this, don't you know they can't even control their own troops? Their general is missing! ! A missing commander? Missing... or something else? How can you ignorant peasants compare your knowledge to this great lord, who has wandered the world for years? Sister, you spend too much time looking after farmers and pay too little attention to the outside world. The Mu Family of the Naxi people, the Great Righteousness Kingdom to the south, the Wolf Barbarians to the northwest, and the Ming religion lurking amongst the people... How can this village stand against threats like these, without the strong aid of the Leopard King? Has he gone mad? I just want to farm normally... (I see, so that was his agenda. The world is even more chaotic than I thought...) Your plan may have its merits, Mei Xinghe. But it's a pity you missed out one thing in your calculations. Young warrior! Big brother is great! As long as I'm here, your schemes and tricks will never succeed!Wow, what a strong heroic aura. Combat naturally ensues.  Mei Hongqi is rather fragile but hits hard with a debuffing fist technique from the Dark Fragance Lingering Cold sutra.  Her brother has twice the HP but is not as advanced in the Mei family technique.  How is this possible... this kid...Defeated, Mei Xinghe cuts his losses and runs. Young Master! I don't know how to thank you for finding Xiaoqing and beating my unworthy brother away! Haha, Village Chief Mei is too kind. I couldn't stand by and do nothing after finding out that guy's plot. We will surely do our best to help you find that man Xu Xuke! Big brother, are you looking for Uncle Xu? Oh? Little sister Xiaoqing, do you know him? I love listening to Uncle Xu's stories! But the other day, he said he had urgent business in Shu Yuji, and bought me some gourd candies before leaving. Young Master, you have done so much for our village, please take this key. Above our village, there is a pile of stones, which guards our village. Inside, hidden in an iron box, is the secret book of martial arts of the Mei family. Village Chief... but this is your family legacy! Young Master, you have saved us and we have no other way to repay you. I have no talent with martial arts, and it would be a shame if no one carried on the hard work of our ancestors. Please, I hope it can contribute to the future path of Young Master. I see... Thank you, Village Chief! Dark Fragrance Lingering Cold boosts Fists and Qinggong. The capstone technique appears to be a teleport, but it costs 4AP? With a name like that, it was probably created by someone who really wanted to suddenly appear behind someone and whisper "You are already dead" into their ear.  Obtaining Dark Fragrance Lingering Cold will finally allow Siwang to decode the little men in the Mei family genealogy, which will boost his Qinggong. Hmm... with this secret manual... these little men seem to be hinting at some method of improving Qinggong? Let me try it out. Ah! A stream of True Qi is flowing between my three foot acupuncture points! My Qinggong has improved! An unworthy son who neglects his ancestors would never have stumbled upon this method. Hence the Mei family hid their secrets here, for their filial and virtuous descendants.  But first Siwang has to climb a mountain and find a big pile of stones conveniently situated to rain down on intruders. The ancestral secret box should be hidden here. There's a mechanism... Aha! Congratulations, Siwang, you've cleared the main quest for Gongshi Village.  Gongshi Village... beneath this seemingly peaceful facade there lay intrigues worthy of the Imperial court. Kongjin, you laid down your life to save me. I swear, I will find the Holy Books for you!Where does Siwang go next? - East to Cloud Dragon Temple, to follow up on the sidequest of the mountain fisherman and his death. - West to Shu Yuji, the stone panning village, to look for Xu Xuke. - Even further west to Dayan Town, to - North to Relics of our Ancestors, to attempt to make friends and explore. - Southwest to the Leopard King's Stronghold, to complain about Mei Xinghe. edit: actually I think I can run into Dayan Town without triggering any cutscenes so Siwang will be visiting the clothing store while I wait for the results. sandorius fucked around with this message at 13:14 on Feb 21, 2023 |
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Feb 19, 2023 10:39
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Yeah, it would make sense if the teleport was also an attack, but as it is I think Dark Fragrance Lingering Blossom is only useful as a stat booster for Qinggong. For 4 AP you can pretty much run across half the battlefield, and this game is mostly melee so sitting still and waiting for the enemy to come to you is a better option most of the time. I do intend to duel Dong Guoqiang later when Siwang reaches Shu Yuji, so no need to worry about that. And it's amazing to hear that That Guy is around even before you officially meet him, it shows a level of care and attention to detail on the part of the devs that you don't often see nowadays.
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Feb 20, 2023 01:21
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Update 15: Visiting the Clothing Store It seems that general opinion is to visit the Leopard King. In the meantime, Siwang is going to visit Dayan Town to buy a new outfit and avoid as many cutscenes as he can.  Crossing through Shu Yuji on the way to Dayan Town, Siwang talks to this merchant. He will only sell to evil people, so I want to grab his stuff in case Siwang accidentally becomes righteous. Siwang also had to fight the head guard for the Gold Armour, as there was someone facing the head guard all day and night, making it nearly impossible to steal. He will return it to the old man eventually. When he remembers.  This merchant has two sutras for sale, both evil-aligned. To afford them, Siwang has to sell off a significant fraction of his metal and hide inventory, as well as some jade buddhas he picked up from somewhere.  The Yin Feng Knife is a fairly standard Blade art that scales with evil.  Yama's Post is a Short Weapon art that has a chance to assassinate the target instantly if they are lower level or being flanked. There is actually another way to obtain this sutra, but I believe Siwang is no longer eligible for that event. Looking at the sutra image, I believe the "Post" in the name should be "Poster" or "Notice", the kind that you slap on the wall, rather than a letter. I can't believe the translator didn't take the chance to call it "Death Note" instead.  Shu Yuji is a stone panning village and has these chunks of stone just laying about on the shore. If Siwang pays 500 money to some polishers, they will grind the stone down for a chance to receive a gemstone.  Alas, Siwang fails to dodge this particular cutscene, in which Luo Yuanyu is extremely chummy with some scammer selling fake frostbite ointment.  If I want to make friends, I will naturally follow what people say. Basically, he is not a good person.But at least he is honest with Siwang that he's just being polite to a fellow businessman.  In fact, Luo Yuanyu strikes again when Siwang reaches Dayan Town and starts chatting with this drunkard loafing around outside the local wine store. That's the character for "wine" on the wall behind him. Siwang is beginning to suspect that Luo Yuanyu has some kind of affinity with beggars and conmen, what with the stick and all.  The clothing store is just to the south of the wine shop in Dayan Town. Again, the character for "cloth" is hung on the banner outside. Most shops are like that, it's sort of difficult to remember what shops are where if you can't recognize the character on their banners.  The shop attendant is wondering why the lady in the dressing room is taking so long.  Wait... that's not a lady. And he's wearing some snazzy leopardprint briefs, where can Siwang get those?  Nevermind. Let's leave those two alone.  The clothing store has thirteen different outfits, and Siwang simply buys the first one, which is some sort of Naxi Tribe fur clothing. Mission accomplished!  Before he leaves Dayan Town, Siwang buys some candied hawthorns from a nearby vendor. They boost intelligence by a tiny bit, and make him wonder if waltzing straight into a bandit stronghold is a terribly good idea.  Maybe he should try to level up a bit? Siwang turns in the quest given to him by the dying imperial spy and his comrade. The imperial spy handler thanks him and asks him to fish for some information regarding the killer from a well-informed children's game peddler at the local pagoda.  A selfie taken at the Tibetan Monastery north of Dayan Town. Don't worry, as soon as the hawthorn candy wears off and Siwang has got a few more levels under his belt, he will head to the Leopard King's Stronghold and demand angrily to see the manager.  Look! He even found a souvenir! Wind and Horse Banner, "A tantric Dharma artifact with five colours of red, yellow, blue, green and white, and a sutra carrying the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Increases virtual moves by 6 per round."
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Feb 20, 2023 13:19
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Update 16: The Leopard King's Stronghold Upon returning to the Leopard King's bandit stronghold, Siwang catches these two bandits burying something behind a hut. There's someone there! Kill him! Straight to killing? Why can't we just get along and split the loot three ways? I told you to split the loot three ways, but you just couldn't listen to me, could you? Hmmm... what treasure were they trying to hide?This nets Siwang a Valuble Antique which he can sell.  Siwang then proceeds to accidentally aggro the entire bandit camp. But since he has Cheng Yanhua healing the party, this is more of an exercise in tedium than terror. The bandit NPCs remain standing around but just complain bitterly instead of initiating combat now. Kid, looking for death? How dare you provoke our Leopard King Stronghold, the boss will deal with you! Don't be so arrogant, kid, the boss will cut you up! Trying to enter the bandit king's house starts a cutscene. I almost succeeded, just give me a few more men and I guarantee I can take back the position of Gongshi Village Chief! I'm not wasting any more of my time on a fool like you. Lord Feng's orders were to obtain food from the village, they were never about helping you become the village chief. Mei Hongqi will never be willing to provide you with food! If gentle methods won't work... harsh ones will have to do. If you kill the villagers and turn the rice fields into a wasteland, where will your food come from? Instead of slaughtering the chicken to get its eggs, you should help me again. If it hadn't been for that brat who ruined my plans, the village would have already... Brat? You don't mean me, do you? You! I say, old man, at your age, aren't you ashamed to be talking badly about others behind their backs? Hmmph. I was wondering why it was so noisy outside, it seems a rat has wandered in. A rat? Hey hey, ask your conscience, have you ever seen such a handsome rat in your life? Cut the crap and die! The Leopard King comes packaged with Mei Xinghe and four other friends. He hits reasonably hard for this stage in the game, "Kill the leopard and leave the skin" will do 700-800 damage per strike and take off about a quarter or so of anyone's health bar. Luckily he goes for the Swamp King, who has been buffed by the Book of Beasts sutra to ridiculous levels of tankiness.  Mei Xinghe gets bitten in the crotch by an angry crocodile, and the Leopard King follows soon after. edit: this guy isn't actually the Leopard King, just a midboss lackey sent here to gather food.  Hey hey hey, the others have run away without you. Don't kill me, don't kill me! I can tell you a secret! You promise not to kill me? Yes, yes, tell me the secret! Did you know that this place used to be a small village of hunters and miners? So what? About a year ago, Feng Guanyu, the most notorious bandit in this country, suddenly led his men here and occupied the place. But why did he do it? Maybe he liked the view here? There was a rumour that someone found basalt in a nearby mine! An iron from beyond the sky, no weapon can damage it, even an ordinary sword can become a divine weapon if forged from basalt. So that's what those bandits guarding the "Forbidden Zone" on the next hill are doing... I have told you everythig I know about the heavenly metal, basalt, and also the Leopard King Feng Guanju. Now let me go! If Siwang kills Mei Xinghe, he can loot this Short Weapon sutra from his corpse. There are three ways this conversation can go. Please vote: - Siwang kills Mei Xinghe immediately without learning the secret of the nearby mine. - Siwang kills Mei Xinghe after learning the secret of the nearby mine. - Siwnag lets Mei Xinghe go free after learning the secret of the nearby mine. sandorius fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Oct 20, 2023 |
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Feb 21, 2023 08:21
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You know, I was wondering about that myself and I did a bit of research. See, there's this legendary black tortoise in Chinese mythology "Xuanwu" ("Genbu" in Japan), and the metal ore in-game is called "Xuan metal". Guess what basalt is called in Chinese? Yeah, it's "Xuan rock". So you can see the connection - black, hard, shiny.  SIGSEGV posted:33% it actually is the material and the name being weird is because not every legend is thoroughly fact checked, for some reason Good guess!
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Feb 21, 2023 21:20
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Update 17: The Leopard King's Mine The thread has voted to off Mei Xinghe. Shouldn't have kidnapped your niece, dumbass.  I've told you everything, now let me go! Fool! Anyone who offends me will die!  Let's see what good things you have on you...This is unsurprisingly an evil act. Siwang loots the Bone Piercing sutra and heads west to the mine Mei Xinghe told him about.  Siwang visited the mine a while back, but because he didn't know the secret, there was no basalt inside.  My hoe just broke when I touched it, this pitch-black stone is extraordinary! Wow! You guys dug up a Basalt! Can I have a look? It's you! You bastard! If we lose the treasure we'll be chopped to death by the boss! Let's fight him! The miners pose no threat to Siwang and he gleefully mines the exposed basalt ore.  The basalt, or "Xuan metal" ore, has a very high Hardness and Durability, which will increase the quality of items forged with it, but has high Weight as well. Siwang has already picked up three, one from the starting cave, one from the dragon ball cave, and the last from a statue cave southeast of Relics of our Ancestors. Like other high-quality ore deposits, they do not respawn.  Crap. The Leopard King's back.  He brought his brother with him! And several assorted bandits as well.  The friend charges his blade...  executes a flying leap through the air...  and smacks Luo Yuanyu for 1012 damage. The Gold Vest did pretty much nothing against it. This is not an easy fight. The two elite bandits do a ton of damage and the other bandits are no pushovers either. Anyone not confident in their combat ability would do well to avoid the encounter entirely by sneaking out from the back.  Duan Siping is the first to fall.  Siwang here is contributing to the fight by providing moral support, and totally not scoping out potential escape routes at all. I thought I had the attack button selected, and clicked on my target, but I hadn't and the game interpreted it as a move command to the terrain directed behind the target. At which point Siwang turned tail and wasted 8 AP climbing to the roof of this shed. Hilarious in hindsight, but very aggravating in the moment.  Cheng Yanhua gets taken out soon after. Heroically, she chose to heal Luo Yuanyu instead of herself.  It's not enough and Luo Yuanyu is knocked unconscious after two rounds. Gui Siwang is at the bottom of this image, sort of peeking around the edge, and keeping the Swamp King between himself and the remaining bandits.  As Round 9 starts, the Swamp King decides he's had enough fun for today and disappears in a puff of smoke. Beast companions start off with a two-round limit and the Beast Taming Sutra has upgraded the round limit to eight. Luckily there is only one heavily wounded bandit left.  Victory! On the Leopard King's body Siwang finds a key.  This unlocks the door to the Leopard King's treasure room.  There are gold Buddhas, jade goblets and chests of gold in this room. Sadly, the only things Siwang can loot are some Coral gold and this Spear sutra. "Eighteen Leopard Spear Forms", maybe?  This Spear art is unfortunately Yin-aligned, and needs a significant Qi and Qinggong score to master. As Luo Yuanyu is Yang-aligned, he won't make great use of it, but a charge attack is always welcome for the mobility.  Siwang heads to the nearest inn at Shu Yuji to recover, but catches sight of Xu Xuke in the window and decides to leave the main quest for later. He does talk to this little girl and is caught offguard when Cheng Yanhua speaks up. This kid is about the same age as my daughter, what is she doing here by herself?It's amazing that they have interactions for Cheng Yanhua here, since you have to run all the way north to recruit her she's more of an endgame companion.  Siwang finds the kid's mother complaining that the kid doesn't want to pan for stones in the lake and has run off. He bribes her with a plum and learns that she's scared of the water, and gets the mother to agree to send her for work in the jade workshop instead. Big brother, is it true? Mum won't force me into the water again? Can't you see, I am a righteous, upright and chivalrous man, how could I lie to a child? That's great, big brother, even though I can't feel your righteousness, I'm still glad I don't have to go into the water. Siwang returns to Mei Hongqi, but she has no reaction to learning of her brother's death.  Meditating on his failures in combat, Siwang finds a mannequin where Widowmaker used to roam and punches it several times, gaining Fist skill. Eventually, he decides to upgrade his companion's weapons. Siwang has no idea where to find iron knife wood for Luo Yuanyu's staff, but he knows cold iron for Duan Siping's sword can be found in the mountains to the west.  Siwang encounters and makes short work of some bandits on the road west.  This merchant got attacked by wolves and wants help finding a particular guard who ran off carrying an ancestral item.  The poor guard is up here to the west. The merchant rewards Siwang with some medicine.  A cave! If it hadn't been for the 'highlight ore and plants' button Siwang would have completely missed it.  Inside are a bunch of sleeping wolves. Siwang turns to leave, but...  Combat! In a massive stroke of luck it turns out to be a tameable Beast King and his pack.  The "Lord of the Swamp" faces off in a one-on-one duel with "A Flash of White Teeth" while everyone else keeps the other wolves away. Siwang lurks behind and dashes in at the right time with his Beast Taming technique. Success!  There is also this excellent accessory to be found in this cave. Frozen is a rare debuff that directly decreases Qi and thus combat potential.  Finally, next to this icy fresh mountain stream, Siwang finds some cold iron.  As well as some kind of book lying on a kung-fu statue.  Slightly to the north, there lurks the Iron Axe Beast King "Mountain-Splitter"!  Thankfully, it's alone this time and easy prey.  Just look at the scars on this grizzled veteran. Since the other votes were to head north and to go to Dayan Town, Siwang will skip Shu Yuji for now and concentrate on filling the last companion slot. But for now, should Siwang change his preferred animal companion of choice? - Stick with the crocodile "Swamp King" - Join the pack with the snow wolf "A Flash of White Teeth" - Smack people around with the bear “Mountain-Splitter" sandorius fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Feb 22, 2023 |
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Feb 22, 2023 16:14
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Update 18: Looking for More Party Members With the Leopard King more or less permanently dealt with, Siwang continues searching for weapon upgrade components with his new best friend Mountain-splitter.  He finds some iron knife wood on the roof of Fortune Winery, where it was presumably patching a hole in the roof or something. There's also some gemstones here for some reason, maybe a crow or something is picking them up?  Since it's nighttime Siwang does some bandit hunting, and runs into this old fisherman.  When fishing, the worst thing you can do is to be impatient. Some people spend a lot of money on expensive gear. But if you can't be calm, how can you enjoy it? Sounds like a quest gated off behind a high reserved alignment. Siwang duels him on the off chance that he drops a martial arts sutra, which he doesn't, but he does get to show off his incredible Cosmic Fishing style which involves him lying down and smacking Mountain-splitter with his fishing rod.  To the north, at the entrance to Relics of our Ancestors, Siwang meets a white-haired girl.  Inky, it's me, what's wrong with you? Why did you run out of the protective formation alone?  Rawr! Oh no, she's being menaced by that tiger! Splash of Ink on Snow is not too happy with his partner and is attempting to bite her.  Siwang joins Ning Zhuanhuan here in subduing the white tiger through the power of explosives and also a giant bear.  Stop it, Inky! Come back here! She disappeared down the stone path... does she live here? Back in Shu Yuji, Dong Guoqiang and Qi Xiaoer are complaining about Li Tan, who apparently stole something from the Nanzhao kingdom to the south and fled here. They are from the Diancang Sect there and are supposed to punish evildoers, which Li Tan clearly is, according to Dong Guoqiang.  Qi Xiaoer expresses doubt, saying that many people call Li Tan a chivalrous thief. Dong Guoqiang says that Li Tan is just currying favour with them so that they will go easy on him.   Hahaha... it's a fool's errand for you two youngsters of the Diancang Sect to try and catch Li Tan. Drunkard, what nonsense are you spouting? Who are you and why you ridicule us? (This must be the Southern Sage, "Nan Xian", name Xu Xuke!) Please don't be offended, this man is just drunk... I'm not drunk... burp... Who are you? Are you in cahoots with that thief Li Tan? Sister, we must defend ourselves! Sirs, if you must fight, please fight outside, if you break my furniture, how can I do business? Everyone politely adjourns outside where Siwang boggles at Xu Xuke's sword. [Ancient Sword with Chi Dragons], "This ancient sword was obtained by chance from Xu Xuke's travels around the world. It is said that this sword has been in existence for thousands of years. Xu Xuke cherishes antiquities and has never used this sword to fight with others." 184-190 damage, drat, for an unused sword it sure packs a punch. And in fact Xu Xuke promptly uses it to poke a hole in Duan Siping for 1000+ damage. He's a mean drunk.  The Diancang Sect must teach dual-wielding swords, as Qi Xiaoer comes with unique golden and silver swords.  Although Siwang wins the fight, Xu Xuke fakes losing and admits defeat. Guo Dongqiang gloats a bit and boasts about his plan to catch Li Tan when he makes his next move. Qi Xiaoer congratulates Siwang on his kungfu and the two Diancang disciples leave the inn.  That girl is so stiff, so young and yet she puts on airs like a seasoned veteran. Anyway, who are you, outlander? Siwang explains about meeting and losing Kongjin at the Holy Temple, in the tutorial sequence.  I see, that braggart has finally fallen on his face! Don't worry, old Kongjin has faced more difficulties than a stone in a latrine. It's nothing he hasn't handled before. Oh, General Duan is here too? It's been a while, good to see you. Thanks to Nan Xian's advice I was able to escape the Nanzhao kingdom safely. Indeed, this one has been slacking off for a time, not only in the Nanzhao kingdom but east, west and north! (You mean your title "Nan Xian" actually stands for Southern Slacker and not Southern Sage!?) Brother Gui, it seems you have a strange history. Brother Duan, Nan Xian called you "General Duan", it seems you are much more important than me! This... it is a complicated matter, I will explain everything when we reach the Duan manor. Until then, please forgive me for being silent. Xu Xuke warns Siwang that the men in black who attacked him are from the House of No Mercy, who seek the power of the Holy Temple, and that there are four particularly skilled masters he should watch out for. One of them is Lan Fuyi, who Siwang has already met (the lady who blocked Kongjin's Thunderbolt).  There's a lot of plot exposition here. Siwang asks what form exactly the "Ho Tu" and "Lo Shu" take. The River Map, or "Ho Tu", is written on a beast skin. The Book of Heaven, or titular "Lo Shu", is an engraved tortoise shell, and apparently contains any and all knowledge, much like Wikipedia. It was lost during the Warring States era, but Xu Xuke suspects that the extraordinary success of an army commander named Huang Shang is due to his having rediscovered the Book of Heaven.  The Heluo clan, which guard the Holy Temple and keep outlanders from causing too much trouble, asked Huang Shang for the Book of Heaven in order to close the doors of the Holy Temple. Huang Shang refused, citing the need of the country. Later, his family was assassinated by the House of No Mercy, who were also looking for the Book of Heaven, and Huang Shang went into hiding.  Xu Xuke suspects that Huang Shang was aided in his escape by his good friend, He Hongyuan of the He Family Horse Gang, also known as "Big Pot Head". He asks Siwang to investigate and find Huang Shang.  Why is the protagonist always responsible for solving troublesome things? The heavens set great tasks upon the people, and they suffer the pains of the body, the aches of the bones and the hunger of the flesh. As long as your heart is pure... Brother Duan, what are you mumbling about? ... nevermind.  To the west outside Dayan Town, a man is being robbed, and Siwang naturally gives chase. He would never ignore a cry for help!  The robber gets mauled in the face by an angry bear.  Forgive me, master! I have an eighty-year-old mother and an eight-year-old child to take care of, I have no other choice! Yes, yes, an eighty-year-old mother and an eight-year-old child, who doesn't have one? I'll let you off the hook this time, but it won't be so easy next time. Thank you kind sir! Now to take the money back...  Audacious thief! Trying to escape? No, wait, this is a mistake, I'm not a robber. You're holding the bag of money in your hand and you want to argue? I took it from the robber! Where is he, then? He had an eighty-year-old mother and an eight-year-old child, so I let him go. Who would fall for such a ridiculous reason? Cease your sophistry and face your crimes like a man. But I'm innocent! He Yuqing then attempts to capture Siwang, at which point a bear appears out of nowhere and brutally dismantles her. Beast Taming Sutra is perhaps the most overpowered sutra in the game. With these fighting skills, why resort to thievery? How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a thief!Siwang only steals sutras and rare items, mere money doesn't interest him.  Bandits! Stop! Have you no respect for the law? Ah, young man. Did you manage to get back my money pouch? Of course, it was easy. ... And the robber? I chased him off. Fine. It means less paperwork for me anyway. Little brother, Miss He, thank you very much.  Hey, shouldn't you be apologizing for calling me a thief? It's your fault, you look like a thief, standing here all alone, anyone would think you're a thief! He Yuqing then runs off. The robber dropped a Throwing Weapons sutra for Siwang, Throat-Sealing Arrow (nice icon!) has approximately the same numbers as the sutra the monkey in Gongshi Village gave us, but debuffs movement instead of AP. Notably, it is also Yang-aligned, which doesn't really matter at the start of the game but should make it pull ahead a little once Siwang gets that Yang score up.  A Dragon Sabre? When did Siwang pick this up? I honestly don't remember. With that ridiculously high damge, it must be a mod item.  Siwang upgrades Luo Yuanyu's staff at the local blacksmith. The debuff-focused upgrade increases damage to a 114-120 range, and the internal injury debuff value to 18.  In contrast the damage-focused upgrade has a damage range of 190-200 but a debuff value of 6. Siwang picks this option because killing enemies faster is clearly the superior debuff.  Additionally Siwang slaps a diamond and moonstone on the staff to increase damage and MP leech.  Siwang's fist weapon gets some poison for now, he doesn't really have many gemstones available.  Duan Siping's sword gets upgraded with cold iron and some more poison to save money.  A bit to the south of the Dayan Town blacksmith is the Pretty Dream Pavilion. You can probably guess what kind of establishment this is.  There's someone being attacked by snakes just outside the Pretty Dream Pavilion. Siwang deals with them easily.  Hmm, why are there so many snakes here? And these snakes look sickly, as if their venom had been extracted. There is much debauchery going on inside, but this is of little interest to our hardened protagonist Gui Siwang.  Instead, his attention is immediately drawn to a little confrontation off to the side, where a lady is trying to stop someone from going round the back of the pavilion. She has to distract him by promising the company of one of her co-workers.  Oh no... not another one. Don't worry, Miss, I'm not a bad guy. I see from your face that you have some concerns, maybe I can help? No, Miss Xiangdie has told me not to let anyone in!  Let him come in, Ming'er. Miss Yanxue? But what about Miss Xiangdie's instructions? Just tell her it was me. Sir, I saw how you helped Shi'er handle the snakes outside. There is some trouble in the pavilion, although you are not familiar to me, I hope you can help us. Of course, if you speak unwisely of what you are about to see, I will have to kill you. Uh. Ah. Yes! Murder! One lady in a red dress, one NPC, and one suspicious hooded figure.  I let you in, but don't touch anything. Let me consult Miss Xiangdie first.  ...  Dammit, this is already the third murder case in the Pretty Dream Pavilion! Siwang has one free party slot and has already met a few potential party members. Unfortunately they all need a bit of questing to unlock. Which one should he try to recruit first? - Solve the mystery of Relics of our Ancestors and recruit Ning Zhuanhuan - Get involved in the chivalrous thief Li Tan's next robbery and recruit Qi Xiaoer - Follow up on the location of the Book of Heaven with the He family horse gang and recruit He Yuqing - Solve the mystery of the Pretty Dream Pavilion murders and recruit Fan Xiangdie
sandorius fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Feb 24, 2023 |
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Feb 24, 2023 18:42
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Here, a gif of Prince Ma dancing.
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Feb 25, 2023 12:15
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Update 19: Murder at the Pavilion There is literally a dead body on the floor, how can Siwang not help?  The girl standing beside the body suggests reporting to the authorities, but Fan Xiangdie, the proprietress of the Pretty Dream Pavilion, says that the men in power have their own motives in mind, and will interfere with the running of the Pavilion.  She then asks who the hell is this random guy. Rong Yanxue says she let Siwang in because of his "unusual face and smell".  Siwang introduces himself, and Fan Xiangdie says she trusts Rong Yanxue's judgement, and asks for his help in solving the murders.  The other two victims were also found here, but they died in a different manner from Li Hua here. Those two bodies... I suspect that they were the victim of someone trying to master the "Corpse Snake Poison Blood" technique. Their corpses were blackened and smelly, unlike Li Hua, who was hit in the chest and her liver torn apart. Is it even the same culprit? Who would want to kill Li Hua in this manner? Did she offend someone? Does Miss Xiangdie have any suspects in mind? I... I can't be sure, but if it is the same murderer, then they knew the whereabouts and movements of my sisters. It must be one of our own... Siwang looks at the body, and finds a surprised expression on her face, suggesting that the murderer was someone she knew and trusted. Additionally, from the marks on her body, she was attacked even after she had died, so the murderer must have been in a murderous frenzy. There is also some incense powder scattered around her body.  Siwang questions the other girl here, Qin'er, and learns that the body of Li Hua was dragged here. Qin'er found the body because of a trail of blood. Qin'er also says that Li Hua was a proud girl, and was often in conflict with Miss Danling and Miss Yanxue, and also little Rongxiu...  Qin'er! That's a man's life you're holding in your hands, don't talk about unworthy things! Naturally Siwang interrogates Situ Jing next. Excuse, mother-in-law, I have some questions to ask.I believe this is a generic term of respect for an older lady, and not meant literally. What do you do here? I discipline the girls. (... what?) What are you thinking, kid? I teach the girls martial arts, from the butterflies to the maids, you have to know how to defend yourself in a place like this. Ah... yes, I see. Did you know Li Hua well? That woman's nose was higher than her eyes, ivory doesn't come from a dog's mouth! What else is there to say? Did Li Hua offend mother-in-law somehow? Kakaka! (What an awful laugh...) Who is Rongxiu? That child is someone I picked up, and now I care for him along with Miss Xiangdie. (Is Granny Situ such a kind person? I can't see it.) Picked up from where? That's not relevant to the case here, is it? Rong Yanxue here gives Siwang Li Hua's backstory. She was orphaned and sold to a corrupt official together with her little brother, then forced to flee the capital when the official started making unwelcome advances. She says that Li Hua would sometimes take food from the kitchen and sneak outside to meet her brother, who was not allowed to live at the Pavilion.  But recently her brother was bitten by a snake, and was confined to bed, spouting nonsense. What kind of nonsense? I... I shouldn't say. What's there to say! Her little brother was bitten by a snake, but blamed it on our Rongxiu, saying that he set the snake to bite him! Granny, we all know you are a righteous person, and would never practice evil kungfu to harm others. Surely the boy was delirious from the pain, do not take it to heart. Rong Yanxue also says that she has an ability to judge people's faces and their fates, and that Siwang's fate is strange. It could be good or evil.  Having exhausted the conversation topics available, Siwang leaves and examines this trail of blood on the ground.  Ming'er here has a lot to say about the girls who are stationed on the second floor - Li Hua, Danling, and Yanxue. Apparently Li Hua was jealous of Danling getting more attention, and also got bumped into a fish pond by Rongxiu.  More importantly, when asked about the trail of blood, she says that a pool of blood was found outside the kitchen, but it was cleaned up to avoid alarming guests.  There is a stain here, where the blood was cleaned up, and Siwang enters the kitchen to ask the maid about it.  A few days ago, Li Hua insulted little Rongxiu, saying that he was destined to grow up to be a seller of the rear end, and enraged Granny Situ to the point where she slapped Li Hua on the spot. It was only thanks to Miss Xiangdie that Granny Situ was pacified. The maid here points Siwang to Rongxiu, who likes to hide in the trees just outside the Pavilion.  Rongxiu here is crying alone in the forest. Hey little Rongxiu, be a good boy and don't cry, OK? Big brother has something to ask you.  Oooh... Don't be scared, big sister Xiangdie has asked me to investigate something, so big brother has an important question, OK? OK... no! I don't know! (Hmmm, why did he say yes and then no? Has he been told not to answer any questions?) Little Rongxiu is being disobedient? Lying children are struck by lightning! Lll... lightning? Wuuuahh... (Whoops, said the wrong thing.) Don't worry, don't worry, if Rongxiu doesn't lie, then thunderbolts won't kill you, OK? Just tell big brother the truth. Does Granny Situ hate Li Hua? Granny Situ is the best person in the world, and also the best martial artist in the world, whenever someone bullies me, she will definitely teach them a lesson! But I didn't want Li Hua to die, mother-in-law is so fierce, and I was so scared... What does that mean? Did Granny Situ kill Li Hua? I don't know! I don't know anything! Uwahhh! (It must be Granny Situ, but I need more proof.) On the other side of the Pavilion is the site of the murder. Here, Siwang finds a torn-off piece of grey clothing. It's time to go back and expose the murderer. In case you missed the increasingly obvious hints, it's Granny Situ.  Siwang can accuse pretty much everyone else, but they all have alibis.  In order to expose Granny Situ, Siwang attacks her, and she reacts with a claw of green energy. Granny Situ! That... that was the "Corpse Snake Poison Blood" technique! It was you who killed our sisters! Granny, when you came to the Pavilion, we made a promise to stop using such harmful techniques! I trusted you all these years, and now you even used your sisters to practice on! Who is Rongxiu to you, how can you kill someone for just some insults to him? Rongxiu is the son of the former Minister of the West, Yan Baochuan! Minister Chuan saved my life, but when I was away, he and his family were murdered by a traitor, and I only managed to save the boy... You hid me and fed Rongxiu, Xiangdie, but I taught you a great deal of kungfu, so don't say I was eating for free. Kakaka! Big-mouthed boy, I'll finish you off in three rounds! Granny Situ is fairly dangerous, but is unable to kill Siwang in one strike, and Cheng Yanhua heals him back up.  Fan Xiangdie is not very good at fighting but neither are the three snakes in the background.  How dare you betray our sisters! Unforgiveable! Kakaka! Fool! You think I'm the only one in the Pavilion like this? Listen! That day, I smelled a strange fragrance off Li Hua's body... I became so angry, I couldn't control myself! Someone else in the Pavilion knew about my practicing kungfu, and kept quiet! They wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife! Kakaka! You sisters act like you love each other, but underneath you're all looking out for yourselves. Don't act like you're better than me! (What a way to use poison... I've learned a lot today.)Remember the incense on Li Hua's body? For the record, I think it was Danling, since she has some scented powder in her room. But I am unable to get the quest to resolve in a different way, if anyone knows how, please post in the thread.  Noooo! Don't kill Granny! Rongxiu! Get out of the way! Rongxiu! Run! I'll see you at the usual place! Kakaka! This is my hidden weapon technique!Siwang dodges, but nothing happens. Fooled, dammit! They got away, there was no hidden weapon! Thank you for your help, young master.... khhh! Miss Xiangdie, you were injured in the battle, please return to your room and rest for now.  Granny Situ dropped a sutra on the way out.  The Corpse Snake Poison Blood martial art is a fist technique that scales with evil. Siwang isn't especially evil so he only gets 21 bonus damage on 300 base damage, he's more of a Diet Coke of evil.  Now that the murder has been solved, Siwang is free to sample the more... physical aspects of the Pretty Dream Pavilion. Although only Aunt Cai here is offering.  (The fish swam joyfully in the water, the wilted flowers bloomed again, and you and Aunt Cai had an indescribable time.)This boosts Siwang's Qi at the cost of 800 money. You know what they say, it's the old ginger that's spicier.  Unfortunately, while Fan Xiangdie is very grateful, she doesn't offer to join Siwang's party. Dammit! It looks like if he wants her to join, he'll have to start Su Qingrui's sidequest! (Su Qingrui is Fan Xiangdie's  Distressed by his failure to woo pretty women into his party, Siwang goes on a crime spree, beating up random people for their stuff and also stealing this box containing a Ye Family Horse Gang costume.  This particular guard had a randomly spawned martial arts sutra on him. Unfortunately, a duplicate of the one Mei Xinghe had on him.  These two people are complaining about a mysterious thief that only appears at midnight.  Su Qingrui is an apparently insane beggar loitering on the premises of the Good Samaritan Hall, which is a giant manor in the middle of Dayan Town.  Jing Tairan here is the salt merchant who runs Good Samaritan Hall. If Siwang had arrived at the right time of day, he would be generously listening to a bunch of locals complaining about the man-eating tiger in the mountains to the west, and would ask Siwang to handle the tiger problem. The calligraphy on the left says "Rise or sink, enemy's feelings do not change". Or maybe if the subject is reversed, "Treat your enemies the same regardless of their size"? These poetic sayings are hard to decipher. I can't even read the calligraphy on the right, let alone try to puzzle out its meaning. Something about ambushing birds?  Siwang also climbs onto the roof of the local theatre and snags a nice sword sutra from the pagoda top. Duan Siping will appreciate this, he's nearly out of useful sutras to study.  Siwang then leaves Dayan Town and starts looking for the man-eating tiger. In the mountains to the west, there's a cave entrance blocked by a suspicious rock.  Siwang bashes it open and discovers a secret sutra embraced by a skeleton inside! Three Waves on the Yangtze is an Inner Working sutra that buffs the third action taken in a turn. At least, I think that's what it does. The description is less than clear.  A bit to the south of the cave entrance is the White Horse Residence, and waiting there is the chivalrous thief Li Tan! So there was this old man who saved children while wandering around the martial arts world and brought them back here. Li Tan here is the eldest of those, and while there are some other adults around who farm and help feed the children, Li Tan is in charge.  Siwang takes the chance to beat him up and steal his sutra. Most potential companions come with a sutra, but Siwang is a long way off from being able to recruit Li Tan.  The Xichuan Clear Moon Blade is a fairly standard Blade technique that knocks its target down the initiative queue, delaying their action.  Someone has also hidden a letter on the roof. Chunbao and Xiaobao are the two kids running around below. (Chunbao, Xiaobao, how come you guys didn't fly up here until now? I was only a year old when I started, and I was able to walk on walls. But to reward you, I hid something in the horse's saddle. Remember how to calm him? The food you hate the most is the one he likes the most!) The farmers here refuse to give Siwang a turnip so he has to grow one himself. This is going to take some time. Germinate, germinate! Ugh, why does it grow so slowly? Strangely, this does not cause the turnip to grow. Siwang gives up and leaps off the cliff to the north, landing on top of the famous man-eating tiger and also his four friends, who are eager to sample man-flesh. This is rapidly becoming more than Siwang can handle, he's going to visit Relics of our Ancestors next and see if Ning Zhuanhuan is easier to recruit.
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Feb 26, 2023 16:09
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Update 20: Relics of our Ancestors Siwang manages to fight off the man-eating tigers and staggers back into Dayan Town, bleeding profusely. Wild animals are annoying like that, they inflict a lot of trauma damage.  He blunders straight into a whole bunch of town guards. Luckily they aren't looking for Siwang, but some perverted thief who likes to steal women's underwear.  Haha! If you want to catch me, you'll have to wait till your next life! The guards surround him, but the pervert leaps into the air.  Guess that's one way to use kungfu.  Now what do we do? How can we find him now? Find him? Naturally a pervert will follow a woman's rear end, just find some girls and go there! So what if we can find him? The question is how can we catch him? Should we start carrying ladders? Or can you guys learn to fly? That person was quite skilled in Qinggong, it's a shame he doesn't use it for better purposes. I'm a little envious... Siwang meanders off in the direction of the Pretty Dream Pavilion, hoping to find the thief, but unfortunately fails to do so. Maybe another night? He does find these two graverobbing brothers having a drink outside.  Hey, little brother. Who are you? Don't you remember? We met in the graveyard, behind Shu Yuji. You! You followed me here! Mother! He's always been like that. Lame, isn't it? What are you up to this time? Hey! We have a legitimate business idea. I'm going to use my gift to advise people and tell fortunes. Care to invest? I just need a little capital to start off with... In case you've forgotten, this other guy has picked up a habit of seeing dead people from excessive contact with Yin energy while graverobbing.  He points Siwang in the direction of some old man with a hobby in calligraphy, and asks Siwang to steal some artworks for him. Siwang is happy to comply because the voices in his head have been telling him to act more evil.  Siwang passes the valuable paintings and calligraphy to the graverobber and hopes he hasn't just been scammed.  In fact, speaking of graverobbing, there's a graveyard just to the northwest of Dayan Town. Mostly full of soldiers who died in the war against the Wolf Barbarians.  Oh look. Two familiar faces. (Again?) Brother, there's nothing in this tomb, only this strange square box. You've been cheated! Are you sure? This guy is dressed strangely, like an outlander. Check again! I've already gone through all seven orifices, we shouldn't have given all our money to that fortune teller! (Oh no! My investment!) Hey! You two! Wow, you didn't faint this time. Brother said that since he can see you too, so you must not be a ghost. (Your brother's eyes can see some strange things!) See, my brother is learning. You can't scare him now! Please tell the woman in blue next to you to stop glaring at me. I can feel the evil intent all the way from over here. What woman in blue? What woman in blue? Oh poo poo! This time it's your brother that's fainted. Ugh... I suddenly feel uncomfortable too. It must be this square thing, it must be cursed! Brother, let's just leave this thing here and let's get out of here! (What did he dig up?) (A cell phone!) How can there be a cell phone here in this day and age? What? Why? Was this guy also from the modern era? (Tomb of an Unknown Soldier) (drat, he's really dead. He might have known something about getting home...) Mobile Phone: "A mobile phone of unknown brand, how did this thing appear in this era?" Unknown brand? Siwang must be a millennial who grew up with an iPhone or something.  "Died in a drunken horseback riding accident." (So drunk driving was around even in such an early age?) Most of the other graves belong to soldiers who died fighting for the Mu Family against the Wolf Barbarians, although one is splattered with blood and the slogan "Mu did it". This one, however, has an entire martial arts sutra etched on the gravestone. Thank you, elder, for this fist technique! Eight Trigrams of the Nine Palaces is a heavy-hitting fist technique that requires a lot of AP. Mobile phone securely in inventory, Siwang heads northeast to Relics of our Ancestors. He is no longer a primitive caveman, but a certified representative of modern civilization. Surely he will be able to entice Ning Zhuanhuan to his side with the wonders of tinny personalized ringtones and a game of Snake.  Too bad he's taken too long in the graveyard and the sun is rising. The nocturnal inhabitants of Relics of our Ancestors have faded away and the caves are full of bears now.  He does at least come across this weaver lady who is researching ancient fashion and fabric design.  And there is a modded Short Weapon sutra in one of the caves, in case Siwang ever feels the need to channel the spirit of Hassan-i Sabbah.  Siwang sadly heads south to this roadside inn, and accepts this lady's offer of a quick drink. Maybe he can while the day away here?  Whoops! The drink was drugged and Siwang wakes up in a cell.  What's going on here? Haha, silly boy, can't you tell? Just so that you don't die like a fool... In four hour's time, when our boss's wife gets here, you'll be the food for our shop tonight! Hahaha! We'll bring you out then, so stay put! The good news is, some unlucky sod got killed here before and hid a sutra under these loose boards so that these bastards wouldn't get their hands on it.  The bad news is that Siwang's only means of escape is hidden in this latrine bucket and he's going to have to root around in it. He's lucky he doesn't have He Yuqing or Ning Zhuanhuan in the party yet, they will be totally grossed out. Actually, he can blast the door off its hinges with enough Qi, but this is funnier.  He can also try to fake stomach cramps, but the guard won't fall for it. (Tch! It didn't work, the movie was a lie.) Siwang picks open the lock with the dagger he found in the latrine bucket, knocks out the guard, and runs.  The boss lady isn't too happy that her dinner is getting away, and decides to take action personally.  This is a bad idea for her and she gets mauled in the face by an angry bear.  She has this Fist sutra on her, which appears to be a debuffing sort of technique focused on breaking bones and dislocating joints.  The Goro Bagua Stick manual Siwang picked up in the jail cell is a Spear sutra pretty similar to Luo Yuanyu's Nighthawk technique, but inflicting internal injuries instead of dislocation. It also goes "bwonggg" instead of "atatata".  Quite put off with idea of resting, Siwang decides to spend the day doing sidequests. He continues east and is ambushed by some members of the House of No Mercy, the evil ninja-types who intend to take over the Holy Temple.  It goes about as well as you might expect, this encounter is balanced for low-level characters and Siwang is firmly in the mid-game power tiers by now.  Siwang reaches Shijia Salt Estate and meets this poor Taoist sage who is poisoned and requires a rare Moonlight Chrysanthemum for the cure.  This old man wants a fish for his cat and gives Siwang some money to buy one.  This lady's son has been missing for a few nights now.  And this old man wants Siwang to bring a message to his niece who lives to the northwest. Tch! Another lousy errand quest from an RPG? But since I see your sincerity, I agree. ...Chicken? Anyway, please tell her it was my fault and I regret it.The old man here is confusing the G in "RPG" with the word for chicken, which is pronounced similarly.  This man spends five minutes telling Siwang an old legend about a Buddhist monk who split a mountain in two, and claims that this is the place where it happened. He asks Siwang to go to the nearby Cloud Splitting Dragon Temple to ask for their help in splitting a large rock near his village. I can climb ten mountains without getting out of breath, but I just can't swim! Brother Gui, I don't know if the monks of Tianlong Temple have this divine power, but they are very wise, surely they can give some advice. There is also a chest on the roof of this house, with a note from the "Gentlemen of the Beam". Now that you have found this object, continue to follow the "Path of the Beam", and you shall receive. But, do so at your own peril! This poor joke-teller has been robbed of his script and his jokes are incomprehensible now.  And this tofu-selling lady is looking for a tiger dong, as promised in the OP. Listen, my damned husband spends all day fising in the river and doesn't pay enough attention to me! He is... weak, and I want to make soup from a whole tiger penis to give him energy and nourish him. There are tigers in the woods to the northeast, bring me a fresh tiger whip and I'll let you have some tofu for free. Tigers! Who do you think I am, Wu Song? I'm not done talking! The villagers have raised a sum of money and hired a group of expert hunters to deal with the tiger. Just go with them, what risk is there? Wu Song is a fictional character from Outlaws of the Marsh, who got drunk and wrestled with a tiger barehanded.  The hunters aren't eager to let Siwang join and take a share of the loot, but he uses his Medicine knowledge to convince them.  The tiger takes the bait. It isn't poisoned because the hunters want the meat, blood and bones.  Surprise! The hunters turn on Siwang and attack him afterwards. Hey, kid, you must have some secret book or valuable things on you, right? If you get eaten by a tiger, wouldn't that stuff be ours? The problem with attacking someone with a lot of secret books and valuable things is that they probably killed a ton of people to get them. Siwang obtains the Tiger's Tongue. "It is barbed, strong and powerful, and has a certain magical effect in the minds of the common people who believe in using its shape to make up for its form." I've spent more time than I should looking at it and wondering if it's a tongue or a penis.  In any case the tofu-seller is suitably grateful and teaches Siwang the recipe for tofu. Siwang also claims the entire reward for hunting the tiger from the sub-chief.  It's getting dark so Siwang makes his way back to Relics of our Ancestors. Like he did several days ago when traveling north to recruit Cheng Yanhua, he walks into the middle of the cave system, refuses to leave when politely asked to, and gets jumped by a mob of angry disciples. But this time round he wins the fight and a bodiless voice intervenes. Hold, disciples. This man has an otherworldly smell, let me take a closer look. He may be an outlander. We must uphold our promise with the Turtle Spirit Emperor. What does Supreme Elder think? The outlander may leave, or he may stay. We shall keep our promise. The illusion laid upon Siwang is lifted, and he is now able to perceive the people of Taihua Gate, who apparently have a roaring night market filled with people watching the fight.  The first thing this lady does is to criticize Siwang's fashion choices. Happily, the second thing she does is to offer some secondhand clothing to him.  The people of Taihua Gate have smooth skin and white hair, and this man here is 103 years old and still in his prime. He says that his people are nocturnal, worship the moon and lead peaceful lives, so they live longer.  Siwang picks up a recipe for roast lamb here. I didn't expect that this kind of tangy food would be eaten here! Brother Gui, I'm glad I joined you to see the world, these different people and customs, it's all been an eye-opener for me. (Wow! This noodle stall's owner has such a special cooking technique! Be it a pot, ladle, chopsticks or knife, in his hands, it's almost alive...) Siwang trades with the noodle stall owner for some kind of cooking sutra. Well, it says it's a Short Weapon sutra, but the icon is clearly of a wok flipping.  Are you from outside? They are all thieves with no sense of decency or shame. Either they think we are ghosts and want to raid our tombs, or they think we are immortals and want to ask for money. One of our ancestors was seduced by a fox demon, and ran away. Some disciples left for training, but they never returned, and their bodies, and jade daggers, were lost.  It's taken a while, but Siwang finally catches up with Ning Zhuanhuan. She thanks him for his help with Little Snow, gives him a tiger-shaped pendant that boosts combo rate, and asks him about the outside world.  Let me tell you a love story about a couple of silly boys and a spoiled girl. Once there was a young man named Guo who fell in love with an eccentric little girl. The girl was a real tough nut, she hit him as hard as she could when they first met...Readers familiar with wuxia may recognize that Siwang is retelling "Legend of the Condor Heroes" here. Wow! I've never been out of here, and I've never seen the ocean, it would be a shame to be trapped on an island. The ocean sounds so scary, Big Brother Siwang, if I'm trapped on an island, will you rescue me? Hmmm... maybe? You will, right? To save or not to save, that is the question... I hate you! Big brother Siwang, you have so many strange stories, will you come back and tell me more next time? Why wait for me, little Ning can join me on my travels. But... our people suffer from a fear of the light, after walking in the sun for some time, we become weak and dizzy, and break out in ulcers. Elder Kogui is skilled in alchemy, and he knows a formula to suppress this, but it requires a spider called the Seven Stars Moon. We have sent disciples everywhere to search for it. It can only be found in a cave to the north, near the "Hidden Flower Cottage". The man living there has laid a miasma over the entrance, and the sect does not know his intentions, so we dare not act rashly... (Isn't that Doctor Chen's cave? I can go in!)I've realized why the translation calls the place the Tibetan Herb Shed - Tibet in Chinese is "Xi zhang" or "Western Secret" and the Hidden Flower Cottage uses the "zhang" character for "hidden".  One short horse ride later, Siwang enters the cave behind the Hidden Flower Cottage.  Here grows the rare herb that Doctor Chen asked Siwang to help pick, lo, these many updates ago.  As well as an extremely poisonous spider. Thankfully Cheng Yanhua is around to help Siwang catch it.  This is the Seven Stars Moon! Brother Siwang, you are so awesome! Elder Kogui, is it true that with this pill, our people need not fear the sun? Can... can I go see the outside world? Alas, girl, this pill will only work for you. For you see, your grandmother was not one of us. Your grandfather was a stubborn man and left us to marry your grandmother. But when your father was born, his infant constitution could not handle the sun, and was on the verge of death. Your grandfather was ill from prolonged exposure to the sun, so your grandmother rushed back here with your father and begged the Supreme Elder to take him back. My grandparents... After that, your grandmother left in a hurry. They lived in a place called Suishin Island. Here, I'll mark it on your map. Go, you are different from us. Go and see the outside world. Don't worry, as long as I am here, no one will touch a single hair on Little Ning's head. If you get hurt or poisoned, just look for me. With that, Ning Zhuanhuan joins the party. She is a Clever Sword user and also comes with a free white tiger.  The "Ingenious" capstone talent of the Clever tree increases damage dealt with the number of different debuffs on the target.  Ning Zhuanhuan, or "Ning'er" to her friends, also comes with a Yin-aligned Sword sutra that is vaguely moon-themed.  Splash of Ink on Snow is nowhere as powerful as Mountain-Splitter but is nevertheless a very welcome fighter on par with Duan Siping.  Siwang heads to the blacksmith to try and upgrade Ning'er's weapon, but is distracted by high-quality shinies! Look at those Worm Silk Gloves (189-199 base damage) being sold for a mere 12000 money!  A Tiger Shark Stamina Suit? Where did these guys even get shark-skin?  Starry Night (155-160 base damage) is a Hidden Weapon that is only slightly inferior to Kongjin's Thunderbolt (175-180 base damage). Nice. Please vote: - Buy the weapons and armor from the blacksmith. Money is not hard to come by, just rob a few bandits. - Steal the weapons and armor from the blacksmith. It's the principle of the thing. Additionally, now that Siwang has a full party, it's time to consider doing character sidequests. Which one should he follow up on first? - Visit General Duan Siping's manor in Dayan Town and learn the circumstances of his exile - Travel the world and find an old Beggar's Sect hideout with Luo Yuanyu (this may take some time) - Deliver the medicine to Doctor Chen and meet Cheng Yanhua's ex-husband - Head northeast to Suishin Island and look for Ning Zhuanhuan's grandparents sandorius fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Feb 28, 2023 17:01
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Update 21: Fooling Around Eager to show Ning Zhuanhuan the world, Siwang takes off southeast and brings her to an abandoned, creepy temple.  Big brother Siwang, why did you bring me here? Listen, Ning'er, if you want to spend time in the Jianghu, you need to learn that abandoned buildings are basically loot piñatas. The last time I went into one of these I found a blade stuck in a skeleton and an iron spear on the roof. What's a piñata? Siwang's intuition is never wrong, and he finds this Sword sutra just lying on the floor for any wandering hero to pick up.  Also, if you wander around at night you stand a good chance at triggering ghost-related sidequests. Is that why we've been haunted by the sound of a child crying for the past fifteen minutes? I've only been in this world for a week and I've already met three. I'm not even counting the people who just die after giving me a cryptic message. Sir, can you do me a favour? Can you hear the sound of a little child crying? Yes! Great! That's great! Every night I can hear it, but no one else can! I'm so happy to you know you can hear it too! It makes you happy? Well, I'm unhappy! Are you trying to gently caress with me, you son of a bitch? My name is Shi Gandang, I am in charge of the midnight patrol here in Shijia Salt Estate, please find the howling noise and make it stop. I'm just a coward and I don't dare to investigate. You son of a bitch! Do I still have the right to say no? I was just passing by and now you got me into this, it's so uncomfortable! Siwang finds "A Child Weeping Alone" near the riverbank to the southeast. Uooohh... (This is the crying child, but I can't see his face...) Big brother, this child looks so pathetic, aren't we going to help him? Hey kid, I've got some candy here, would you like some? Boohoohoo! Uooohhh!! (drat, what a reaction! It seemed to make him unusually angry?) (Now what? This is so weird, I'm under a lot of pressure, what do I say?) Little... brother, or sister, what are you doing here alone in the middle of the night? Boohoohoo! Uooohhh!! Would you like to turn around? It's a little weird talking to you and not seeing your face. Ooooo... (Why did I say that!? What if he really does turn around, will I see something that will make me pee my pants?) (Ugh, he's not reacting to these questions. I guess I have to bring up that subject.).jpg) Little brother, could it be that you have some grievance, that you want me to redress for you? ... (What does this silence mean? This is also scary, dammit. And when did this jade pendant appear on the ground?)  Showing Shi Gandang the jade pendant makes him freak out. This pendant! Are you lying? No! No way! I knew it! I didn't know! He then runs away at top speed. Aaaaa! What the gently caress! Hey, don't go, what about my thanks? The kid has disappeared now, but the Moonlight Chrysanthemum the poisoned Daoist sage was looking for can be found here now. This is Moonlight Chrysanthemum, young warrior, please hurry and bring it back to the Daoist sage. Siwang could lie to the worried mother, and say that her child was kidnapped but later rescued and adopted by a kind-hearted merchant. (What a lame lie, and she's willing to believe?) (Is this a form of cruelty? Letting people live with unattainable expectations...)But instead he simply tells her the truth as he knows it. Strange, I never noticed anything unusual about Shi Gandang. What do you think actually happened, young master? I... I don't dare to speculate. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. Please let me know if you discover my son's whereabouts in the future. The Daoist sage is very happy to receive the Moonlight Chrysanthemum, and gives Siwang a Tianshan Snow Lotus, which boosts max MP. If Siwang complains, he gives him a Thousand-Year Lingzhi as well, which boosts max HP. Big brother, isn't there something we can do to help the poor lady? Not unless we can track down Shi Gandang. At times like these, I find the need to do something else to sooth my own soul. Like what? Adding to my sutra collection. Look at that old man fishing by the river, I bet he has something interesting on him! The Cosmic Fishing Style requires the starting Calm talent to even begin to learn. The fisherman refuses to teach Siwang unless he performs righteous deeds, but has unfortunately failed to reckon with a Siwang skilled in petty thievery. I swear he didn't have this on him the last time Siwang met him.  I think Hunting Bow Technique is technically a Hidden Weapon sutra? It's just laying on the counter of the Gongshi Village grocery store.  These bandits are celebrating the theft of the joke-teller's manuscript, when suddenly five trained kungfu experts and two wild animals join the party.  The joke-teller is grateful but has nothing to reward Siwang with other than a fragment of an essay on ancient and modern opera. Apparently if Siwang collects them all he can get a reward! From who? What kind of secret treasure? I don't know, it's just a rumour. Thank you for showing me the world, Big Brother, but I would really prefer you to stop with the ghosts and the abandoned temples. drat! There's another one to the south which always has a bunch of bandits camped in front, I wanted to bring you there next. How about a non-abandoned temple? There are two farmers complaining to the duty monk at the Tianlong Temple to the south. There's some kind of black-skinned monster with red eyes and armor haunting the area, and the farmers want the monks to leave, because that will somehow help.  Siwang promises to look into the matter of the Great Dark One and also filches a mystery sutra off the poor monk.  One Yang Finger is clearly a modded sutra, you can tell because the modder hosed up the transparency on the sutra icon. Also 30 points of seal and 500 base damage on a 6 AP move is just clearly overpowered. It's even got 8 range, this is basically wuxia Finger of Death.  Siwang goes in and greets the abbot, who is busy meditating.  Another monk in the temple proper also has a modded sutra on him, but in contrast to the low-effort icons of One Yang Finger, this one has got colour! Just as ridiculously OP, though, it even does more damage per AP.  When asked about the legend of a monk splitting open a rock, this monk denies any such thing happened here, and gives Siwang some prayer beads to give to the legend-seeker. Please give this to him and tell him the matter is in his own hands. May Buddha bless him. Very nice of him. Ebony Buddhist Beads "Precious beads made of ebony wood, which upon closer inspection shows the marks left by years of use"  Siwang heads north to give the prayer beads to the legend-seeker.  He is disappointed to learn the truth that the monks of Tianlong Temple cannot actually split huge boulders but also resolves to go home and deal with his rock problem himself.  This farmer has a badly carved Buddha statuette that somehow increases experience gained at the cost of losing stunt points every round.  This other farmer, Uncle Tan, has what is clearly a quest item, the land deed to the Tianlong Temple, which "appears to have been altered".  Uncle Tan says that the Great Dark One is a good god and that someone here must have offended him. He asks Siwang not to fight him, but to give him offerings such as buns.  The chef here does have some plain buns, but charges Siwang 200 money for it.  He also asks Siwang to find some salt, the last salt dealer to visit took the money, then hit the monk and refused to cough up the salt.  Apparently there's a password required to even speak to that salt dealer, who is in hiding to evade taxes or something?  In any case the minion here accepts the password and points Siwang north.  The salt dealer starts a fight with Siwang and doesn't even have the common sense to make it a duel. He gets stabbed, bitten and mauled before he can even react. Luckily for him Siwang is trying to cut down on his evil intake and lets him go instead of executing him.  Thank you, for the past three days I've had to cook without salt. In order to avoid everyone's suspicion, I can only mix some sweat and nasal droppings to taste. What a misery. ... Sir has helped this poor monk, but this poor monk has nothing to give sir, only a portion of my best dishes, please take these vegetarian noodles.Siwang is not touching those noodles with a ten-foot pole.  Just outside the kitchen there are two monks arguing. No, no, no. Look at the way you hold that sword, you can't even hold it right, let alone use it. I'm surprised you don't cut yourself. Brother, I don't want you to lose face, so I'll take the title of the best blade in the south. Brother, don't be ridiculous, there are thousands of styles in the martial arts world. It's all about the lower half of your body. As the saying goes, the waist and the horse are one, as long as your stance is upright and firm, you'll have no problem cutting! To use the sword in this way is righteous and in line with the martial arts and Buddhist teachings! Excuse me, masters, this humble one is Gui Siwang. The two masters have quarreled so fiercely that I realized Tianlong Temple is truly a home to warrior monks. What are you talking about, big brother, these two idiots are arguing about razor techniques. They said they would shave my head a few days ago, but every day I just sit here and listen to them argue. I can't take it anymore! It's so hot! Please help! Sir appears to be a martial arts practitioner, please judge who is really the best sword in the south! Siwang can decline politely, saying he doesn't have the skill to tell who is better. The monks will console him and give him a sutra for him to practice. Fancy Fist and Kicks is a terrible Fist sutra. Punches aren't supposed to be fancy, they're supposed to be direct and to the point.  Anyway, that is clearly a reserved choice, so Siwang takes the unrestrained path and declares himself to be the best sword in the south. The monks naturally ask him to prove it.  With a single swipe of his blade Siwang takes off all the hair on the child's head!  We admit defeat. Wahaha! Free! Thank you, big brother, please take this spider I found. Siwang shoves the Colour Snow Spider into his backpack, hoping that it will come in handy at some point in the future. I want to see the sea next! Come to think of this, there was that letter the dying mountain fisherman wanted me to send to his family... isn't the cottage by the sea to the east? The woods east of Tianlong Temple are full of tigers, and Siwang runs into this particular white tiger, a Beast King with the imposing title of "Southern Tyrant of the Heavens". A new friend for Snowy! Siwang can now have two white tigers accompanying the party for a pleasing symmetrical effect. Mountain Lord here has a much higher initiative than our bear Mountain-Splitter but less HP and slightly less damage.  The poor fisherman here reacts to his brother's letter with little surprise. His brother ran away to become a bandit years ago, leaving him here to take care of their old blind mother. He offers a small sum of money as a reward, but Siwang, mindful of his ever-sinking karma score, refuses to take it.  There's a dragonball and some cold iron in a box nearby.  Then, when Siwang leaves, he meets a mystery man who is looking for the Luo household. Were Siwang righteous instead of mildly evil, he could probe further and stop this man. But as it is, he simply shrugs and says he doesn't know anything.  Returning to the fisherman's cottage will see the two inhabitants dead. Siwang can do nothing but bury them. I had the option to call out the mystery man in a previous playthrough, which will save these two NPCs. Turns out the mountain fisherman Luo Ping killed his family and he's looking for revenge. I'm not sure why Siwang can't do it now, maybe it's tied to righteousness?  Brother Siwang, why does death and destruction follow you everywhere you go? Hey, I had a perfectly normal life back in modern China, OK? It's your world that's like this. Look! The Ginseng King and Goldstone Lord are fighting over this mountain and want me to slaughter the other faction purely for the monetary gain. I sort of want to crawl back into Relics of our Ancestors now. It's getting dark, let's just go back and look for the Great Dark One and give him his offerings. Please don't kill him, Brother Siwang. I wouldn't dream of it.  Oh no! The Great Dark One doesn't like our offering! Can I kill him now? No! He probably doesn't like plain buns, let's find him something else. I've heard there are many good things to eat in the Dayan Town night market. This guy is having a late night drink and will accept low-quality ores in exchange for two pieces of high-quality ore. His friend needs to practice, and he points Siwang towards a skilled blacksmith in the northeastern islands.  You should watch out while in Dayan Town, Ning'er. Last night we saw a pervert being chased through the streets by the town guards. How terrible! Did they catch him? Alas, the evildoer was a skilled exponent of Qinggong, and he fled to the rooftops, where the guards, being mere mortals, could not pursue. The rooftops... you mean like that guy up there? ... Exactly like that guy. Hey! What the! Don't scare me like that, how did you get up here? Obviously I jumped up, what's so surprising about that? What the hell are you sneaking around here for, anyway? I'm a mason specializing in roofing, here to observe the environment. Do I look like I'm three years old, to be fooled by that? Who works on a roof in the middle of the night? You know poo poo! The chill of midnight makes things tighten up, while the yang energy of noon makes things fat and swollen! Naturally the serious mason will check both the extreme yin and the extreme yang to make sure the finished product is right! Oh? And what about that suspicious outfit you're wearing, then? You don't get it again! Every trade has it's own taboos! This dress that melts into the night is meant to express no disturbance to those ethereal beings that haunt the night! If craftsmen are not careful to respect the heavens and earth and spirits, no matter their skill, mistakes will happen! Now leave me alone! Bullshit! Don't try to fool me! I saw the guards trying to arrest you! You are the thief, your whole family is the thief! What proof do you have, how do you know you're not mistaken just because I'm dressed like this? Siwang then takes the chance to pickpocket from the man and finds not one, but nine pieces of women's underwear on his person.  Explain to me why you have so many blasphemous garments on you. drat! When did you...! So what? I like to buy dirty clothes for my collection, why not? Oh? For the smell? Big brother... ... Oh! I didn't realize you were so cultured! I see... It's rare to find a soulmate, let's talk! We're both in the same boat, after all. If you don't pursue this matter, not only will I give you half the spoils, but I'll also give you this rare Silkworm Silk, which can be used to make top quality armor! Let us be friends! Siwang, if you do this, both Ning'er and I will be very disappointed in you. Madam Cheng, do you know how hard it is to find Silkworm Silk on the open market? We can finally upgrade that glove of yours! Please vote: - Continue to use the bear Mountain-splitter in combat - Switch to the white tiger Southern Tyrant - Arrest the pervert - Accept the pervert's offer sandorius fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Mar 2, 2023 |
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Mar 2, 2023 19:01
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Update 22: To Suishin Isle Madam Cheng, your good opinion of me is worth inestimably more than some random stranger's smooth, silky undergarments. See, Ning'er, men all become like this when they go off to the big city. My ex-husband was like this too. I'm learning so much on this trip! How can you say we are the same, I am only seeking evidence! Confess your guilt! The pervert puts up a fight, but is quickly subdued even though Ning Zhuanhuan and her tiger can't reach him due to the roof's geometry.  The pervert also drops some loot. (Nice! I can probably sell these for a pretty sum!) I think we should get out of Dayan Town. It's clearly inflaming Siwang's worst instincts. Madam Cheng, my manor is but five minutes away to the east, should you wish to rest. You mean the manor filled with bloodthirsty soldiers just itching to declare war on the Nanzhao Kingdom, "General Duan"? I'm not letting Ning'er anywhere near you lot! Please, Madam Cheng, they are patriots. Nobody voted for your opinion! The bridge to the north, move it! There is a small scuffle on the bridge out of Dayan Town and Siwang naturally cannot resist sticking his nose in.  The Sixth Brother, Bu Seishou here, ran away from his bandit gang and is about to jump into the river to escape.  Siwang, feeling keenly the pain of being strongarmed by other people, saves him. Bu Seishou here admits to having done bad things as a bandit but wants to turn over a new leaf and become a chef in Dayan Town. He also asks Siwang to find a tofu pudding receipe for him. Siwang has one from the lady in Shijia Salt Estate who wanted a tiger dong, but he isn't coming back to Dayan Town anytime soon.  Speaking of tiger dong lady, her husband is suffering from back pain now. Ugh... my back is so sore. Alas, I don't know who meddled, but now I'm being tossed around by my bitch every day, I can't even stand up properly. Why am I even telling you this? Go away if you're not buying fish. Where are we even going? It's so dark here in the forest, I can't see anything. Madam Cheng said we should go look for my grandparents! Ugh, that's all the way in the northeast of the map. What a long walk... I think that patch of darkness just grinned at me. The Forest King "Black Bone" is swiftly pounced on by Southern Tyrant and Snowy, and is forced into the party by Siwang's masterful headpatting technique. Since we just had a vote on beast companions I'll wait until we find some more to include Black Bone into our party  That's a big encampment. And a lot of troops.The little triangular flag says "Brave" on it, it's a fairly stereotypical army banner.  At least these warmongers are polite when kicking us out of their camp. Speaking of warmongers, Brother Duan, why are you still with us? Instead of joining your warmongers, I mean. No offense. Have you seen Brother Siwang's sutra collection? Good point. My Qi has increased by leaps and bounds since joining him. And in any case, proper warmongery takes time and patience. I am in no hurry. Look at those soldiers being drilled! Man, their lives must suck right now. Their lives are going to suck a lot more when they discover you've stolen all their pay. Hey, it's going to a good cause. Make love, not war, and all that. ... Relax, Madam Cheng, it's just a saying where I come from. You have some really amazing sayings, big brother! Look, Ning'er, it's a Prefectural Administration Office. You can bang on that drum there and scream, "Oh great lord, help me, for I have been wronged." Will it help? It sort of depends on the lord running the office. He cares for the people and works late all the time. Oh? Madam Cheng has met him, then? My ex-husband. (Crap! Why did I bring that up?) Another one here to report a crime? Calm down, it will hurt your feelings, think twice! I don't have anything to report, I'm just passing by. Phew! Please feel free to stroll around. We've been working so hard, but the lord judge has finally left on personal business, this is a rare chance to slack off! Where did he go? What, you want to catch up with him just to make a report? How much do you want to make us busy? I'm just curious. He went northwest to the Hidden Flower Cottage, with some high-ranking person named Shi. Master Du Jinpeng is very understanding of the plight of the poor. If there's someone who cannot read or write, they can ask the master to help and he will only charge a chicken or a basket of carrots for a fee. It's not like other courts where if we need a legal document, they will charge dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver. Master Du is such a good official to the people! To the east of the Administration Office is Storm Cloud Crossing, an unremarkable military port whose only saving grace is that it has even more military supplies for Siwang to appropriate. Brother Siwang, you do realize that these soldiers are defending the country, do you not? From what? Bandits? They're not doing a very good job, are they? In fact, with the number of bandits we've taken down, the army should be paying us! Think of this as collecting our pay. There are also the Wolf Barbarians to the west... Fine, when we have the time we'll go beat up some Wolf Barbarians. Excellent. Bananas? I thought they only grew in the south. The real question is, why are the bananas growing here and not the clearly banana-shaped island to the north? There's a skeleton inside the ruined hut on Banana Island clutching a book. He was exiled, got sick and had flashbacks of being chased by a monster on a mysterious island.  There is also a journal here, saying that the exile raised an orphaned monkey by himself and called it Thirteen. He also taught the monkeys to grow bananas.  Thirteen is sitting on this well outside and will give Siwang yet another journal when fed a banana.  The journal says that the exile sealed a monster on the mysterious island and fled west to Banana Island.  There's nothing much else on Banana Island other than a few herbs and also this modded sutra, the Nine Yang Divine Manual. Despite its name, it's not Yang-aligned at all, just pure Qi bonuses.  The banana-shaped island to the north is home to a pair of blacksmiths.  What is that thing? Can I help you, brother? That weird square box, where did you get that thing? (The cell phone? Does he recognize it?) When I was young, I wanted to learn martial arts, but I had no talent for it. So I turned my interest to crafting various kinds of blades, especially the strange and special. I have a weapon blueprint of a mysterious weapon, left to me by a high-ranking person... but I couldn't do anything with it, because I didn't have the base materials. And now I've found it! That square box! (Is there something wrong with this guy? How could his base material be a cell phone?) Please, warrior, let me have that square box! The greatest dream of this blacksmith's life would be complete!If Siwang agrees, the blacksmith gives him a bunch of high-end crafting materials in exchange. But if he disagrees... How about this, if you let me have the box, then I will craft the weapon and give it to you! (This seems like a good idea! I'm glad I didn't just say yes to him!) Sure! (The blacksmith performs some operations completely unlike those of an ordinary blacksmith.) This... this is! I've never seen anything like this, but judging from how hard it is, it seems to be some kind of hidden weapon. (I can't deny, this cell phone is really hard...) According to the blueprint, this weapon is called "Thor's Mallet". As promised, you can have it, my wish is fulfilled. (I never expected this broken phone would become a hidden weapon, truly, this world is full of surprises.) Thor's Mallet: "The indestructible Thunder God Mallet." Base damage 359-370. It's... it's beautiful.  The other blacksmith is busy contemplating his next masterwork and gives Siwang some ores to gently caress off and not bother him.  A bit to the north, there's a cave entrance beckoning Siwang.  There's a Buddha statue overlooking the small lake inside, with a box containing three modded sutras just below it.  The Tai Chi Fist is an averagely overpowered Fist technique.  Sames goes for the Tai Chi Swordplay.  The real prize here is the Tai Chi Internal Art, which will boost the user's MP by 5000 and also give them a 70% mana shield effect, making them effectively invincible.  The cave is also being used by some suspicious cultist types, who are clearly wondering how Siwang got into their cave. Siwang loots another sutra from them as well.  The Tianpeng Blade Technique requires a certain amount of skill with Blade and Qinggong, but if you kill someone with it you refund AP. I believe it stacks with the similar talent in the Hard tree, so a Blade user could become an unstoppable whirlwind with this technique.  Who are you guys? Oh hey, nice cave you got here. I was just leaving, no need to see me out. Intruder! Die! Siwang cuts his way out of the cave and climbs to the top of the mountain, where he meets this old monk.  The Qi emitted by this patron is extraordinary. (This old monk has a good eye! He can see this great warrior's strength!) Without a doubt, this is the Qi of the Dragon Pearl. It's not a bad destiny for you to get such a treasure.The old monk offers to use the power of the  Hey, old man, fancy a spar? The old man does nothing on the first turn and hits both Siwang and his bear for ~3500 damage on the second. Owww!Siwang would definitely have lost this duel if not for Mountain-Splitter. At the time of recording, the bear was slightly ahead, but Southern Tyrant pulled ahead in the voting later, so this is the second last time we will see him in action. Thank you, Mountain-Splitter.  Wow, an academy! Fuxian Academy... can we stop by and have a look? Sure, why not. Looks like they only allow members in. Oh no, I really wanted to see what kind of books they had. How can we become a member? Just go in and ask nicely, I guess. Look, there's a hut across from the library. ... ... Big brother, do you make it a habit to break into people's homes and look at them while they're sleeping? No! Mostly, I'm just checking for loot. He hasn't done it for a while now. Indeed, the last time Brother Siwang did so was at Madam Cheng's bedside. ... ... I just wanted to talk! And I left and came back in the morning! Mmmm... huh? Who are you? Help! drat, she had a whole ton of sutras on her. Was she a fellow collector or something? Perhaps she was holding on to them as a representative of Fuxian Academy. In any case, I suggest we flee. It's dark, she won't remember our faces. Or anything other than Mountain-splitter trying to bite her arm off. Why don't we give Mountain-splitter a rest and bring out Southern Tyrant for a while instead? You know, "General Duan", for such a righteous man you're remarkably fine with this blatant robbery. The spoils of victory, Madam Cheng, won through right of conquest. I don't know why I'm even sticking with this group of man-children. Someone needs to keep Ning'er on the straight and narrow, I guess. Oh, and my ex-husband is looking for me at the Hidden Flower Cottage. Ugh.  Clutch Counselor is our first Yin-aligned Inner Working sutra and will come in handy for training Ning Zhuanhuan's Qi.  Kui Xing Kicking Method appears to be focused around a flying kick.  Sleeve Returning Wind Style is a confusing Short Weapon technique.  And Tai Zu Rod is a defensive staff art which requires a Simple talent to master. The Kirin Spear Technique and Heart Rokugan Sword are starter techniques which Siwang could have received from Kongjin at the start of the game.  To the east of Fuxian Academy is the Enchanted Water Village, which is hosting a martial arts tournament.  Siwang is just passing through, but picks up this gourd containing a Fruit of Wisdom on the way.  Finally, Suishin Isle. Looks pretty deserted, but there are some abandoned crops here. That cow is looking at me funny. The farm animals here have gone wild! The village proper is filled with skeletal remains, broken wagons and rusted weapons.  Ning'er, are you sure this is the right place? So many bones, and in such a terrible condition... How can this be! Perhaps your grandparents got into trouble, it's just about the right amount of time, the crops are still growing and there are traces of people. By the Moon Goddess... how did my grandparent's home become like this? I must find out! (There was a big fight here, let's look inside the houses.) There's a locked box here, I can't open it. I recognize this style of lockbox! You have to press the moons in order, like so... (There's a note inside, looks like a woman's handwriting.) (I hate the Wei family for trying to force me into marriage. It was a day of great joy when I fled here with Zhuan Sun and recruited the islanders to help build this village.) (My husband fell into a coma, and I had to take my son Xiu'er to the Taihua Gate and beg them to take him in, in order to save his life.) (When I returned here, I found my husband dead, and my father and brother looking for me. I took revenge for my husband's death by killing my father and brother.) (They were fools, the only way to get the legacy of the Taihua Gate is to seize the map of the Ancient Enlightened City. Now they are dead, and I have killed my family.) (I can only pray that Xiu'er life at Taihua Gate is safe and sound, and that he will not know the hatred of his mother and his family. These are the last words of Wei Ge.) Wei Ge was my grandmother's name! And Zhuan Xiu was my father... The elders thought it strange that my grandfather did not return as well. They thought he had been betrayed, and abandoned. I had no idea... Don't be sad, Ning'er. Your grandmother was really something, to kill her enemies and then finally join hands with your grandfather! It seems that she did not want her descendants to live in hatred. I think... we should let this matter end here. We should bury your grandparents together. And the skeletons outside as well, even though they may include the Wei father and son. We should still pay respects to the dead. Just as you say! Rest in peace, both of you... (Hmm? Why is there a beggar here?) drat, I thought this was wine, but it's perfume! Some kind of rose honey, shouldn't have gone to all that trouble... What trouble? Why are you here in these ruins? Motherfucker, you think you can escape by hiding in this dead man's village? Our mistress spent a lot of money on that perfume! You're a man, what do you even need that perfume for? Just hand it over! What perfume? You mean this bottle I've just given to this little brother here? Erm, I don't need any beauty maintenance products right now... They're in cahoots! Get them! The ensuing fight is short and brief. How dare you disturb the resting place of my little sister's grandparents! I should teach you all a lesson! It's been so many years since these people died, how could they know? And you? I see you don't mind the white bones at all! Don't blame me, I wasn't responsible for whatever tragedy happened here. I'm just one man, living on wild vegetables and fruits. If you want to clean this place up, get them to do it. (He's got a point.) I don't want to have to beg for food anymore... Stay here, then, there's plenty here for the picking. Siwang recruits the former bandits into counting the number of skeletons in the village, although he has to pick them up himself. With that done, he proceeds with the burial.  The former bandits will accept money, food and lumber to start rebuilding the village. It will take a few days.  Before leaving, Siwang pays a final visit to the newly erected grave. I have brought Ning'er back to oversee the rebuilding of your village. She is like my sister, her affairs are my affairs. We will continue to rebuild so you can rest in peace. Big brother Siwang, I'm really glad you're here with me, otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do. Silly Ning'er, you're just like my sister, who else would I love if I didn't love you?I think I must have missed something somewhere because I don't see why Ning'er would want to rebuild the village. But in any case it seems to be what she wants to do. No vote this time, Siwang will be heading west to continue Cheng Yanhua's quest as sandorius fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Mar 11, 2023 |
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Mar 6, 2023 17:08
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Update 23: Return to Hidden Flower Cottage Thank you all for helping to bury my grandparents. It was but the righteous thing to do. Now what? Let's go for a swim!  Amazing, Brother Siwang. How did you know about this cave? You don't jump off cliffs just to see if there's a cave beneath them? Cold crystals are enchanting mats that inflict the Freeze debuff. Very useful.  The frog is incredibly poisonous, which Siwang finds out by touching it. 100 points of poison, bam. Ouch! Maybe Doctor Chen can do something about this at the Hidden Flower Cottage. Are you fine with that, Madam Cheng? ... yes. We've got the tiger bone and goat blood needed, it's past time we made Uncle Shui his medicine. I just hope Jinpeng only wanted to visit my daughter Feifei...  A bit to the north, a modded sutra is lying beneath a tree.  Sword of the Jade Maiden has got some weird synergy with a specific sword going on, but is otherwise averagely overpowered.  Why are we poking around this temple anyway? There's only a few Buddhist nuns around and they don't even have anything interesting to steal. Buddhist nuns with a line of training dummies, and who are strangely insistent on not letting us into the temple proper? I smell a rat. Madam Cheng, do you think the poison is making him delirious? How do you expect me to tell the difference from his normal behaviour? Let's just hurry west.  Ooh! An abandoned house! I bet there's something good inside. I hate it when he's right. Infinite Mind is a Yin-aligned sutra that will eventually regenerate both HP and MP in combat. Pretty much an upgrade to Secrets of Righteousness, but the Yin alignment will mess with heavy Yang-aligned companions like Duan Siping and Luo Yuanyu.  Spooky cave with overgrown roots obscuring the entrance? Let me just change into my mining outfit. Someone keep him away from that centipede! Big brother, stop! Ouch!  The centipede poisons Siwang again for absolutely no benefit, but at least there's a modded sutra next to it. As the name suggests, Toad Skill is a poison-based Fist technique. There are also some ores and a thousand-year Lingzhi in the cave as well.  Just south of the cave is another abandoned temple, but at least this one has monks and not bandits. Eh...? There are some people in front of the temple, is there some fun to be had?  Amitabha! Chen Dazhi! All I ask is that you return with us to Shaolin and meditate. If you do not wish to return to Shaolin, then return the sutra you have stolen and I will spare your life. Even though my first disciple was killed because of you, I do not wish to perpetuate this cycle of killing and wrongdoing. Do not give up your life for such a small thing. Calm down and let go of your obsession. Let go of my obsession? Why don't you monks let go of your secret book hoard! You have so many powerful techniques and yet you sit on them like you're in the latrine. You call yourselves monks! You're so pleased with yourselves because you own a gold mine, strutting around in fancy clothes and visiting brothels! Insolence! Even if you're only a chef, you are still a disciple of Shaolin! Show proper respect! Ha! I spent so many years in your kitchens, yet if not for my recent deeds, you would have never thought of me as a Shaolin disciple! Hey, that guy over there, is it so fun to watch? Help me out here! I'll pay you well. drat, it's hard to keep a low profile when you're this handsome. Since you want me to make an appearance so much... Almsgiver! This man is a traitor who killed his fellow disciples and stole the scriptures. Do not help him! Brother Gui, this is Shaolin Temple's business, it is not appropriate for us to get involved. If Siwang helps the monks, they will deal with Chen Dazhi easily and leave, rewarding Siwang with a Tai Zu Rod sutra. If Siwang stays out of this business like the reserved Duan Siping suggests, then Chen Dazhi will run away. But Siwang's is a wild and unrestrained personality, so he helps Chen Dazhi and fights the monks.  Great job, little brother! It's all thanks to you! And my reward? I will repay you in the future! Farewell! What? Hey! Don't leave me! Patron! You're so reckless, do you know who you let escape? I fear that you have helped birth a new devil in the martial arts world! Yes, I too dislike Brother Gui's impulsive personality. That man not only killed many of my Shaolin brothers, but even the younger brother of the headmaster! He is already so powerful after learning an external practice, if he deciphers the library books he stole... Watch your words, disciple! I am the root cause of this, how can I blame others for this misfortune? The man who escaped is Chen Dazhi, a disciple of Shaolin. Due to a feud with the cook, he sought to learn martial arts and seek revenge. He had the natural talent to teach himself a profound martial arts by stealing a sutra. Being a proud man, he held many grudges, and shed much blood in Shaolin. Indeed, if left unchecked, he will become a grave danger to many. Oh no, did I let a dangerous killer get away? I'll go find him for you, alright? If patron is so inclined, then seek out a scholar of the Sanskrit language, and you may find Chen Dazhi nearby. Why is this? Chen Dazhi stole a scripture written in Sanskrit, mistaking it for a profound inner working. In truth, it only contains a celestial fitness method. Chen Dazhi does not know any inner workings, and so must be eager to learn one in order to enhance his strength. Hence he will seek out one skilled in Sanskrit. Such people are few in number, and are mostly Buddhist monks like ourselves. We will stay here and recover, should patron find any leads, please look for us here. Siwang immediately challenges Abbot Suffering to a duel, because the Abbot is carrying the Taizu Rod sutra. I suddenly want to beat you up! Please enlighten me! Abbott Suffering drops not only the Taizu Rod sutra but also a Fruit of Wisdom. He also carries a Thousand-year Lingzhi and Tianshan Snow Lotus, all of which Siwang would have missed if he had helped the monks in this encounter, not to mention the follow-up quest.  Just north of the Hidden Flower Cottage there are five people menacing a lone traveler.  They notice Siwang and attack him, including the lone traveler.  What, is it fashionable nowadays to kill all enemies without distinguishing friend from foe? What kind of bad luck... but I did pick up a nice item.Siwang tucks the Ruyi Double Fish Pendant away. It boosts unload rate and heals a little when unload procs.  A little to the west is a beggar encampment. This place... In terms of location, surroundings, and atmosphere, it's a wonderful place to do business. If you want to do something, this is the place! A perfect spot for a base! You know, Yuanyu, I've never asked this, but what exactly is the great cause you are following? You don't seem to be seeking highoffice, or power, or fame, so why do you always talk about doing great things? If I were to say, "I want to build a world where the old are safe and the young are happy, where everyone is at peace", would you laugh at me? Uh... well... When I was a child, my parents were killed in the Wolf Barbarian invasion, and my sister had to raise me. She married a loving husband, but he was killed by bandits while hunting in the mountains. Since I started travelling with you, I have become stronger, and I think my future lies with you. If I can go back to my sister and tell her everything will be fine... if I can realize my dream, then my arm is with you. For good, or for evil. But Yuanyu, there are already people here, and I don't think they are willing to give this spot up. Maybe not today, but just you wait, I will be so strong that they make me their king! This old man wants Siwang to help him with something, either a Black(evil) mission or a White(righteous) mission. There's also a beggar costume under a tent, which Siwang puts on for the thrill.  Since Siwang was in the area, that's Luo Yuanyu's quest started. Siwang could go back and wake Doctor Chen up to give him the medicine now, but doing so will miss out on some background dialogue with his patients.  This matchmaker lady isn't here to consult Doctor Chen, but to recommend a widow she knows to him. That widow is a beautiful, pure and virtuous woman, aside from occasionally hitting on the boss next door and occasionally gambling a little. Occasionally...  Auntie Shes, I only need to know why you are seeking treatment and what your symptoms are. There's no need to talk about irrelevant matters. Doctor Chen, that woman was divorced by a government official! This kind of woman is always troublesome! Don't talk nonsense! I have nothing going on with Madam Cheng! Since you have the mind to talk such nonsense, your illness must not be very important. Please go find another doctor. I'm sorry. Talking to Doctor Chen will trigger a cutscene in which he and Madam Cheng start making the medicine for Uncle Shui. But when Doctor Chen administers the medicine, he staggers.  Hahaha! Chen Zhiji, come out and stop struggling! The water you used had the poison of the Hundred Flowers Underworld that I refined, so that it would take effect when you healed him! The original toad poison should be invading your organs as well by now! Give up! No, it's my younger brother...Since Chen Zhiji and Shi Hongtu don't share the same surname, they probably share the same kungfu master. In wuxia, disciples typically swear to treat their master as their parent, so fellow disciples are sworn brothers/sisters.  Sir! What's wrong? Oouuhh... what's wrong with Mister... I'm scared... My younger brother is very skilled with poison. As I deal with one poison, it recedes, but the other swells. I believe he will not stop with me! Young master Gui, please see what has happened outside! Hey, this fish seems to be in good shape! Catch it for me, boys, it'll make a good poison zombie! Shi Hongtu enters the fray with three minions. He has a Fist technique "Brain-Wracking" that scales with Poison and Evil, and causes confusion (skip turn).  He's also holding some kind of Dragonfly Larva? Gross. Observant readers will probably have noticed that the presence of an upgradable yellow-quality weapon often indicates a recruitable companion.  Cheng Yanhua starts in the house where she's brewing medicine with Doctor Chen, and is thus far too late to join the fight. Luckily, her medical skills are not needed, this fight is fairly easy thanks to Southern Tyrant.  What happened... I was clearly winning! Hahaha! I'm not here to compete with you in a contest of brute strengh Ugh... I see... three assholes...  Mr Shih, you have already killed many innocents today, don't hurt innocent people anymore! Heh... too bad, this kid had an excellent talent to become a poisoned zombie... No! Jinpeng, don't be like this, you were the one who didn't want us mother and daughter, why now...? How could I let my daughter be raised in the hands of a wild man, you shameless slut? It's only been a few years, yet you already found another man to support you? Hurrrgh... sorry... Madam Cheng... Du Jinpeng, you abandoned me and took a new wife for the sake of your future... I couldn't go on living, and brought Feifei to the river... it was Doctor Chen who saved the two of us! I won't allow you to despise him! I have nothing to do with you anymore! In your mind I am a heartless and cruel person, and this Chen is a very good man. Isn't that right? Today I will take away Feifei with me, but I will give you a chance. Come to the magistrate's court and look for me. I will show you I am not who you think I am! Ugh... how long have I been unconscious? Oh no! Are Madam Cheng and the others safe? Everyone who was waiting outside the Hidden Flower Cottage for consultation is dead except for one kid, who presumably ran away.  Little Shizi, don't cry, we'll definitely avenge your mother. Uuuuh... one of them was Feifei's father... so it's true what Auntie was saying about you guys! Little Shizi... I... I really didn't mean to bring harm to your mother. My father is all I have left... but he's still poisoned... Madam Cheng, please keep hold of yourself. Now that Doctor Chen has been poisoned, you are the only one left to run the show at the Hidden Flower Cottage. Kid, Feifei has been kidnapped by the bad guys who harmed your mother, Feifei is Madam Cheng's daughter so we will definitely find them and get revenge for you.Be good, okay? Madam Cheng, it's too pitiful for these people to lay about here. I'll bury them first, take some time to sort your feelings out, okay? Siwang takes a while to bury all the corpses.  Auntie, Dad is still sleeping, so I'll pull myself together until he recovers. Doctor Chen and Madam Cheng have saved Dad's life, they are not the bad guys... ... Things have been settled here, but... I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to fight with my ex-husband, let alone that man with him... Big brother, Feifei has been taken away by her father, please help Aunt Cheng bring her back! (Gosh, the guy with a bald spot in the middle of his head is very poisonous, it sounds so troublesome!) Young master, Yanhua doesn't dare to force you. I will return to the cottage and check on Uncle Shui and Doctor Chen. Please come find me if you decide to help! Lately, I've been thinking of Feifei a lot, but I'm hesitating because of her recent behaviour... Would I be forcing her if I took her back? Excuse me, Madam Cheng, didn't you literally ask me for help not five minutes ago? What's there to hesitate about? It's probably the intensely evil aura big brother is exuding. What? Indeed, were it not for my quest for revenge, I would have left this party already. I am not surprised Madam Cheng is having second thoughts. Listen, Brother Siwang, I know where there's a bunch of fanatics in a fortress to the southeast, just break in and beat them all up! It's great karma! Don't bandits count? No, they have to be peaceful, law-abiding yet somewhat evil folks. Ugh, fine. Listen, Madam Cheng, we're leaving for a while, but we'll be back soon, you hear me? Feifei will be fine, her father is probably stuffing her with candy. Called it. Sheer luck. Not everyone is as obsessed with shoving candied hawthorn down your gullet as you, Brother Siwang. I'll have you know the sugar is scientifically proven to increase your intelligence. He's bribing her with candy, isn't he?  Mother wouldn't allow Feifei to eat this. Daddy will talk to Mother about it. And then you can eat as much as you like.Siwang needs to grind karma for a bit so that Cheng Yanhua will rejoin his party. In the meantime, should he take on the black mission or white mission in the beggar encampment?
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Mar 11, 2023 18:20
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Update 24: Cheng Yanhua's Choice Before cleansing his karma, Siwang decides to snoop around a little. The guards around the magistrate's office have nothing but praise for Du Jinpeng.  There's a strange kitten in the village nearby being fed roast chicken by some kids, and also a very unhappy chicken on top of the hay pile.  In the Du manor belonging to Du Jinpeng, Siwang finds a servant who joined the Du household from his present wife's household. Without the help of the Lady's family, the Du family would not be where it is today, and the master knows it well. She has this incredibly fancy recipe book on her, which Siwang steals, eager to find out her cooking secrets.  It's a recipe for Boiled Water Cabbage. Don't be fooled by its simple appearance, the "boiled water" is actually a clarified pork/chicken/duck/ham consomme.  This maid has broken an inkstone and needs a new one.  The scholar here tells Siwang that in order to make a new inkstone he needs turpentine and suggests getting some from the pine tree outside. But if Siwang harvests the tree too aggressively the tree will die.  Du Jinpeng's new wife, Lady Feng, is enjoying life in this pavilion outside the Du manor, but isn't too happy with her husband.  People want both a daddy and a mommy, so can't Feifei have both? The problem is daddy wanted two mommies, dear. Look, I have to make a quick trip to Qingtian Fortress, but I'll bring your mommy here real soon, OK? Qingtian Fortress, at the west end of the map, is occupied by by these fellows in green pants. Theoretically, they are a people's militia formed to fight bandits and barbarians. Unfortunately their recruiting standards have dropped recently, and any average member is evil enough that dueling them will bring up Siwang's karma. Siwang could barge his way in and fight through increasingly dangerous waves of enemies like a Jackie Chan movie, but that would be counterproductive, as normal battles don't affect evil/righteousness like duels. Instead, he goes off to the north and finds a bunch of discarded coffins.  There is a small sidequest here in which Siwang finds and bandages an injured Qingcheng Sect member who had been trapped in a coffin. The Qingcheng sect has a monastery to the east, but Siwang hasn't been there.  The people who put him in are understandably unhappy and object to Siwang's interference, with predictable results.  This unlocks a secret passage which leads to a small mountain plateau above Qingtian Fortress, from which Siwang can jump down into the Fortress proper without being detected.  Dodging the guards, who will throw him out if approached, Siwang picks up this wooden box in one of the buildings inside the walls of Qingtian Fortress.  This box contains the sutra Yue Family Dispersing Fist, which is fairly unremarkable aside from the extremely metal technique names "Hunger for the flesh of the Huns" and "Thirst for the blood of the Huns".  As well as the Yue Family Spear Techniques, which unfortunately have much more boring names.  More importantly, the box contains a Qingtian costume, which when donned will allow Siwang to walk around in the fortress without getting kicked out. Although he has to make the same excuse everytime someone sees and challenges him.  There is another box in the building across the courtyard containing some money and the Xiahou Archery sutra.  There are sixteen Qingtian fighters practicing forms in the courtyard and Siwangs duels them all. Tedious but simple work thanks to Southern Tyrant, and Siwang entertains himself by kicking them between the legs instead of throwing his  Searching for more people to deliver crotch-based justice to, Siwang slips into a cave at the rear of Qingtian Fortress and finds this prisoner, who asks Siwang to lure the guards in, kill them, take their keys and free him. Never one to turn down a sidequest, Siwang complies and the stranger thanks Siwang and gives him a sutra before leaving.  The Blood Drinking Demon Technique is a Yin-aligned Inner Working sutra that drains life from opponents and requires a fairly high evil score to even begin to learn. Big brother, do you think freeing that man was a bad idea? Of course not, these Qingtian guys are evil, so anyone they were keeping prisoner must have been good. I think I see a few flaws in that logic, but whatever, he's gone already. Brother Siwang, I trust you do not intend to practice that sutra? It would defeat the whole purpose of our coming here. Ewww, no, it's a Yin art. And Ning'er here isn't becoming a blood demon anytime soon, am I right? The more I travel with big brother, the more I have my doubts. Did you really have to kick all of those poor people... down there? How else would they know to repent?  All good things must come to an end, and Siwang returns from his trip to Qingtian Fortress and recruits Cheng Yanhua back into the party. Doctor Chen still hasn't recovered, but passes Cheng Yanhua a medical sutra, the Pill King God Chapter.  Cheng Yanhua already knows the starter technique, which heals for a ton of health, but the capstone will also allow her to clear debuffs, which is why Doctor Chen gave it to her. There's also a poison fist technique off to the side, which is presumably why Shi Hongtu is looking for it.  Siwang and co. head off to Du Jinpeng's office. I say, brother, please, it's already getting dark. If it's not a matter of your parent's being killed or your house being set on fire, please come back tomorrow. The right guard gives Siwang a little bit of gossip, that Du Jinpeng owes his high position to his current wife.  Feifei! Mother! Du Jinpeng, we broke off all ties long ago... what do you... what more do you want? Let Feifei go, I'm begging you! Let her go? She's my own daughter, you sound as if I've kidnapped her. Feifei, tell your mother you want to stay with daddy. Or do you want our family to be separated again? Mother, I... I... let's reunite with Daddy. What wrong with that? Daddy promised to buy me lots and lots of snacks and new thing from now on, we can be together... Let me ask you one thing, Du Jinpeng. What about your wife's father, who landed you this high-ranking job? Do they know what you're doing now? Yanhua, I never thought you would resist me after all these years apart. Not only that, but you know how to use the Yue family to pressure me? I've never stopped thinking about you. Now that my wife's father has passed on, she has agreed to accept Feifei, and as for you... I will set up another home for you, so that you do not have to hang around that wild man Doctor Chen. You... you! I forbid you to insult him! I forbid you! Give Feifei back to me and leave me alone! Hey hey, what's wrong with you? To put it bluntly, you just can't accept that she doesn't want you back. As a man, you shouldn't make things difficult for women, you know? Just ask nicely, otherwise, no woman will want to pay attention to you! Fine. Yanhua, even if you won't come back, I'll let Feifei go with you if you promise me three things. You... I'm just a weak woman, what can I do for a great government official like you? The first two things I ask for will not be difficult for you, why not hear me out? First of all, I want to eat your herbal pork ribs. What? Can't you just buy some yourself? Yanhua, I heard from Feifei that you fell into the water and have been in poor health since, and eating medicinal food to recover. I... I also want to taste what you've tasted all these years. This, at least, is something I can do. Mother... I also want to eat herbal pork ribs. Fine, it's just a pork dish. I'll just make it for you. Madam Cheng, are you sure you want to agree? Alas, I grew up with Jinpeng, he was always stubborn as a child, and now I fear no one can change his mind. The recipe is simple, one portion each of red peony, ginseng and pork. It's not difficult. If Siwang talks to Du Jinpeng without the herbal pork ribs he will be extremely snippy about it. It's just a dish of medicinal pork ribs, is it so difficult? Can't do it, or won't do it?  Jinpeng, the herbal pork ribs are here, eat up while it's hot. Good... very good... Yanhua, this is the most delicious food I've eaten in all these years without you. Nothing on land or in sea can compare to this. What else do you want? I want to bring Feifei back as soon as possible. Daddy, Feifei misses mother! Hmmph. Cold-blooded woman. Listen, there is this woman in Wolong Village who is constantly harassing us with cases. The latest complaint which she lodged was about her chicken. Go and solve this for me. Oi oi, are you making fun of us? First you make us cook handmade pork ribs for you, and now you want us to solve a case for you? This is obviously your job, does this mean I'm the local magistrate now? Insolence! This is my second request. Carry it out or Feifei stays here with me. What's with that guy, he's clearly slacking off? Siwang, please. Let's just do as he says.Wolong Village is mostly filled with farmers and old retirees, but the two prisoners Siwang helped escape from the Leopard King Fortress have set up shop here, and give Siwang a diamond in thanks. They will also sell some medicine from now on, although nothing remarkable.  Some relatives of Auntie Ju, the complainer, talk to Siwang. Apparently she's a serial complainer.  Auntie Ju, the woman in question, is behind her house lamenting that here prize chicken has halved her egg production.  She rambles on and on about nothing in particular.  Even her niece is tired of her, and says that when she stopped paying attention to her aunt, her aunt went to the magistrate's office and lodged a complaint against her.  In any case the next step is clearly to investigate the chicken and haypile during the daytime, when the strange kitten is around. Reverting to old habits, Siwang steals a "Mu House Guard Uniform" off a random farmer while passing the time, and then heads back to Wolong Village.  Hey, I say you, have you found our the reason for the sharp drop in my chicken's production? Does the government just want to gag me? Huh? Sending a monkey like you to work on my case! Siwang can actually just call in Du Jinpeng without doing any actual work to resolve the case. Note the tiger cub looking wistfully at Little White Flower on the haypile in the background.  But since he does have some work ethic, he finds the tiger kitten, which runs away when it sees him. No bullying our little orange candy! Roar! Wait, what? Snowy, said "This is the little tiger that made the hen scared, let's go after it!" Tiger Mom and Tiger Dad come to investigate who has been bullying their precious orange candy. Alas, they represent nothing more but a furry speedbump to Siwang and Southern Tyrant.  No kidding, that's what they're called on their character sheet.  With the tiger threat resolved, Siwang calls Du Jinpeng to present his findings. Alas, there is nothing he can do about Auntie Ju's incessant complaints.  Do you see, Yanhua? I have my ideals too. I want to be a good official, a good citizen, who advocates for the poor and the common people. Lord Du is indeed an upstanding magistrate. Let's not talk about it here. Come over to the magistrate's office. Yanhua, you've come. Mother, have you heard that everyone is saying Daddy is a great big good guy? Feifei is very proud of him! ... What is the third task, Jinpeng? My third request is very simple. Accept this box of jewellery. Jewellery? These...! These are... When I was a poor boy, I made many promises of jewellery to you, but none of them were fulfilled. In the years since, I've found a craftsman to make the things I promised you, and I hope to see you wear them. White silver flying swallow hairpin, parallel lotus heart earrings, jadeite ice heart bracelet... No, I won't accept! I can't take it! If you don't want them, I'll throw them away! Wow, you're really rich, aren't you? Hey, I'm short of a few things, like armor, swords, accessories, I'll take them off your hands for you. You can give these... to your wife. Yanhua, all these years I've been thinking of our happy wedding day, at least take one for the sake of ending things. ... Hey, since you're giving things away, we won't hold back out of politeness then.Du Jinpeng will reminisce about different things if a different jewellery is chosen.  The lotus heart earrings... you were only fourteen, yet you were already so beautiful men had already almost broken through your door to ask for your hand in marriage. And you were so impatient with them that you left your weaving and snuck out for a swim in the river. I was but sixteen and a mere rag, I could not raise my head amongst those people. It was you who pointed to the lotus flowers on the river and told me you were devoted to me and would never look twice at other people. Stop, I beg you, stop. Even this doesn't move you, Yanhua? It seems I have to help you think clearly. .... oh? I'm... so dizzy... Feifei? The candy she ate had some of Shih Hongtu's poison on it. If she doesn't get rid of it in time, if I don't give her the antidote in time... she will become a good daughter who will only listen to me for the rest of her life. Well? What do you think? No! Why are you making me go through this? Come back to me, Yanhua. Don't you miss the old days we had? That's not all! Mr Shih, bring out Doctor Chen! Let... Madam Cheng... go... drat, I've never seen a scum like you! I can't take it anymore, I'm going to teach you a lesson! Oh? You really are a young man, all you know how to do is use your fists. Remember, I have the only antidote! Yanhua, between me and your precious daughter, and this wild man, who will you choose?The wild man here refers to Doctor Chen, not Siwang  Yanhua, now that I've achieved fame and glory, I'm still thinking of the years we had together. If you come back to me, I promise you a better life than you're living now!Choose: - Yanhua's daughter, Feifei - Yanhua's saviour, Doctor Chen If Cheng Yanhua chooses to save Feifei and return to Du Jinpeng, she will leave the party permanently. However, the Poison-focused Shih Hongtu can be recruited in her place.
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Mar 13, 2023 18:46
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Update 25: Stop Trying to Eat Feifei The vote is tied so I'll just exert my completely made-up tiebreaking privileges and choose to save Doctor Chen. However I will show off a bit of the other path, which isn't very long anyways.  If Cheng Yanhua chooses to surrender to Du Jinpeng to get her daughter the antidote, Shi Hongtu will gloat a little and remind Du Jinpeng of the Pill King God sutra he wants.  Cheng Yanhua then gives the sutra to Shi Hongtu, which makes Doctor Chen cough up blood.  I'm disappointed in you, Madam Cheng! I sever any ties I ever had with you! I... I just have to save Feifei... Hahaha! Do you see, brother? This is the kind of woman you saved! In the midst of Shi Hongtu's mad laughter, Chen Zhiji disappears, life and death unknown, while Cheng Yanhua moves into the Du manor with her daughter Feifei. Although Du Jinpeng's first wife, Feng Qiuxiang, is very unhappy, she has no choice but to allow the mother and daughter pair to stay. Shi Hongtu can now be found menacing a random maid of the Du household on the second floor of the Du manor. He will join any sufficiently evil character, and is fairly low-maintenance, as these things go. Some other evil companions will quit the party at the first whiff of anything righteous.  He comes with a sutra that allows extremely poisonous creatures to be captured, such as the Tianshui Poison Toad underneath Suishin Island. It also has several debilitating Fist techniques.  But Cheng Yanhua would never betray her saviour, would she? In the first place, he was the one who pulled her out of the river when she tried to kill herself. Du Jinpeng, how dare you do this to Feifei! I cannot turn my back on my benefactor, who saved our lives. Give the antidote to Doctor Chen, and return Feifei to me. Doctor Chen will be able to save Feifei. Unbelievable! Whore! Adulterer! Shi Hongtu is skilled in medicine, if you need a doctor, he will do. But as for this Doctor Chen, I'll torture him to death! Hahaha! What's the big deal about torturing people to death? True skill lies in poisoning them so that they cannot die! Hmmm... I'll make them kill each other! You actually let someone take control of Doctor Chen and Feifei! Du Jinpeng, you're even dragging your own daughter into this mess? Feifei, wake up! It's me! Mommy... it hurts... Madam Cheng... run quickly... Poor Feifei has been turned into a poisoned zombie. Luckily, she has no offensive techniques and will run around the battlefield healing her allies. The gimmick of this battle is very simple: kill everyone other than Feifei and Doctor Chen.  Doctor Chen here is also fighting against Siwang but is not very good at it. Really, the biggest problem here is that Snowy and Southern Tyrant insist on biting the hell out of Doctor Chen. If he or Feifei bite the dust, it counts as a game over. Luckily Siwang and co. have the DPS to cut down all the guards before Doctor Chen falls below 25% health. I lost this fight in a previous playthrough because my bear wouldn't stop nomming on Feifei. I recommend you disable your beastmaster titles before going into this fight.  Younger brother... you made me expel myself from the school, why are you still chasing after me? The Pill King God sutra is a result of my self-study after leaving the school, it has nothing to do with the school's techniques. Could it be, you want it so badly, because you still feel you are not as good as me? Cough... I can't... not as far as you.. I'm the king... the King of Poisoners! Unfortunately Du Jinpeng also survived the battle. drat you! You dare attack the imperial magistrate's office? The army encampment is nearby, I'll send someone over! But an unlike saviour appears - Feng Qiuxiang, the wife of Du Jinpeng, and also the one who pulled strings to get him appointed to high office. Du Jinpeng! Ah! Feng Quixiang, what are you doing here? rear end in a top hat! I said you could have a spare room, but I never said I would allow you to take the bastard and woman back! Bbb... bastard? That's my daughter! I'm giving you a choice, it's her or me! If you want, you can return all the gifts I gave you, including the post of magistrate! I'll hand it to my next husband! Or you can call her a bitch and tell her to get lost! Yanhua... I can't give up this position... You remember, when I was a child, I swore never to let the poor be bullied by the government again... Bitch! Don't ever try to seduce me again! You... get out of here!  Fine, fine, fine. Let's all settle down. We won't try to seduce you, and you won't call in the army. Don't bother to see us off. (You take Chen Zhiji, Shi Hongtu and the others back to the Hidden Flower Cottage to heal their wounds, but Shi Hongtu takes advantage of Chen Zhiji's weakness and escapes...) That's it for Cheng Yanhua's quest. Doctor Chen has partially recovered and acknowledges his debt to Siwang. He offers a variety of rewards, like free healthcare or some healing pills, or training in Poison or Medicine. Siwang takes the free training in Medicine as his score there is pretty low.  Feifei is also better now but Cheng Yanhua insists she stay out of the wind in case she catches a chill. Feifei is not a fan of the idea.  Uncle Shui is still sick and needs a whopping 210 red peony, ginseng etc. to recover. It's going to take a while to gather that many herbs.  Cheng Yanhua will also rejoin the party - provided, of course, that Siwang is not too evil. Thank you for your help with this matter, Siwang. No problem. You've patched us up so many times, what are friends for? I... guess we are, aren't we? Indeed, Madam Cheng, you are a valuable member of our little party. Should you wish to stay here and take care of your daughter, however, we understand. Yes, well, Feifei is a good girl and will listen to Doctor Chen. But what about you bozos, who's going to take care of you? I can do it! I've learned from your example, Madam Cheng! Somehow I don't feel reassured at all. I guess I'll tag along with Siwang until he can find someone more responsible to join him. Madam Cheng, I am almost insulted. Someone who is responsible and also not a warmonger, I mean. With Cheng Yanhua back in the party, Siwang goes back to the beggar's encampment to accept the "white" mission Merchant Wuliang has to offer. One of the beggars is a robber in disguise and he wants Siwang to find out who he is.  The robber is even able to disguise himself as a woman or even a child.  Siwang proceeds to interrogate the entire camp. Southern Witch here is sort of kooky in a religious way. She wanders off to a random tree outside and starts praying loudly, during which she prays for the success of her mission.  Han here is just happy to have a place to rest. He is also oddly sympathetic to the hardworking government officials working for Lord Du. If Siwang had chosen the "black" mission he would have had to find a government spy instead of a robber. Yeah, it's this guy.  Little Zhang here generously offers some snot for Siwang to eat. He is easily pressured into revealing that he is a secret government spy looking for a robber in the camp.  Wang Qiyuan here talks about the last member of the encampment, Little Ah Ying, who was almost sold as a slave by her step-parents, but escaped.  Poor Little Ah Ying is asleep, dreaming of more food.  There are various ways to figure out who the real robber is, beginning with this suspicious blood stain just outside the encampment, complete with broken toy drum.  Little Zhang doesn't have anything interesting on him when pickpocketed, but Little Ah Ying has a key on her, which Siwang promptly steals.  There is a locked trapdoor just outside the camp, but it's a trap in more ways than one. If opened with the key now, the entire camp will aggro on Siwang as Little Ah Ying accuses Siwang of thievery.  The more straightforward way is to simply duel Little Ah Ying - he has a male voice saying "How could you see through my disguise?"  Siwang reports his conclusions to the merchant, who thanks him and leaves, saying he will have guards arrest the suspect in a day's time.  Moving on the west, there are a group of six idiots arguing on the riverbank. They can't agree which one of them is the eldest, and when Siwang talks to them, they attack him. This is exactly the sort of thing I was worried about when I agreed to follow you, Siwang. What? They attacked me! All I said was that if they were looking for idiots, they could just look in a mirror! Big brother can be very smart and very dumb at the same time. One thing I can say about journeying with you, Brother Siwang, it's never boring. There's a box on a nearby hilltop containing a modded sutra.  The Tianshan Six Yang Palm is a Fist technique which is actually pretty great for a Hidden Weapons user, because it can push enemies away and into minimum range for your throwing weapon. Theoretically it could also work very well with a counterattack build and the Calm talent that lets you counterattack when an enemy moves into attacking range.  A bit to the south, Siwang encounters four monks and three wolf barbarians menacing a lone traveler and a fallen woman. Ah? There seems to be a bit of a buzz over there.  A group of grown men bullying a wounded woman? Not very heroic, is it? Bastard, you dare to come here and spoil the Buddha's good fortune, are you tired of living? I have always felt destined to have a short life. And if I can't lead a long life, it's all the more reason to kill as many demons as I can! Haha! Since you want to die, Buddha will help you for free today! Hmm? Another nuisance? Let's take care of him too, don't miss the Buddha's happy hour! Hey, he's the one who said it, not me! Siwang's mob joins the fray and turns the six-on-one confrontation into a nearly equal fight, in terms of numbers. It's slightly tedious due to the need to chase down the barbarians, who are bow users, but Siwang eventually triumphs.  Thank you for your help. If not for your timely presence, it would have been difficult to deal with these small fry. Oh no, you are too kind. I am Zhang Junbao, of no sect or fame, only a humble traveler. Might I know your name? My name is Gui Siwang, just like Brother Zhang, only a humble member of the Jianghu community. It's a pleasure to meet you.  Hrrgh... Fellow Daoist, your face is pale as paper, your teeth are chattering, have you been injured internally by some kind of cold poison? It's nothing... The monks you just fought, they are from the Green Sea Black Sect. Their master, Shazar, is a great fighter, you should run away before it's too late. If he comes after you, he won't be as easy to get rid of as these useless monks. Thank you for your warning, Daoist. I must leave. Please don't try to be strong... *cough cough* How strange, she was clearly badly injured but left so quickly. Is there something more behind all this? I'm sure she had her own reasons. I just hope she won't run into any more danger. Brother Gui, there are three villages nearby that have been plundered by the Wolf Barbarians. Many innocents are suffering, the common people have been kidnapped, and I am headed there to save the stranded people. Three villages, sacked by wolves? Yes, Brother Gui, if you're not busy, why don't you come with me and save them? Actually, I am sort of busy... Ah, in that case, I'll be going now! See you later, Brother Gui!Now that Cheng Yanhua's quest has been resolved, Siwang can consider ditching her and recruiting another companion. Which questline should he pursue? - The villages being sacked by the Wolf Barbarians and Zhang Junbao's attempt to save them  - The theft being planned by Li Tan in the jade-panning village Shi Yuji - Fan Xiangdie's friend, the crazy beggar Su Qingrui in the Good Samaritan House - The young mistress of the He horse gang, He Yuqing, and their missing caravans - Duan Siping's family manor and the matter of the Nanzhao kingdom
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Mar 18, 2023 16:25
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Update 26: Journey to Duan Manor Man, three villages full of rampaging barbarians and also some weird sect of Buddhist monk killers? It sounds like a lot of work. We could just let the army handle it. There's an encampment right there. Personally, I could do with a good rest in a proper bed. My manor is always open to good friends of the Duan family. It's all the way to the south, what a long walk... Naturally I would never dream of charging my friends any money. Woohoo! Let's go!  There's a modded sutra in a patch of sunflowers a bit to the southeast of where Siwang met Zhang Junbao and the mysterious nun.  The Sunflower Codex gives substantial boosts to Qi, Yin, and Qinggong simultaneously. It would be great for Ning'er, if Siwang wasn't trying to avoid using modded sutras.  Hold on a minute, everyone. Remember the old guy in Shijia Salt Estate whose niece ran away with her lover, and who asked us to carry a letter to her? I think her house is nearby. We can spare a few hours or so. I must say, that is remarkably kind of you, Siwang. Remarkable nothing, the old man promised to pay him.   (singing) Why are you here? Where are the people who used to live here? (more singing) (Ugh, he's ignoring me... I'll search the room first.) Outside the house, Siwang finds two skeletons stuffed inside one water jar, and another one in the jar next to it. Amitabha! Isn't this...? There's also an unfinished letter on a table inside. Uncle, I wanted to surprise you later, but Asao insisted on telling you now, so that you wouldn't worry. We have decided to return to Shijia Salt Estate, whether or not an old man like you agrees with our marriage. We're sure we can convince you, after all... Stop singing! Is all you can do sing? What happened to the people living here? (singing) Don't tell me it's just a coincidence that you're here. Did you do something to them? ... After all, I'm the one who let you out. Can't you give me some face? You're pretty unique, aren't you? Huh? The world may judge you, but your soul is free and unbound. Good, evil, they mean nothing to you, no one knows the real you. What is this? A sudden psychiatric counseling? You want money from me? Don't you realize that we are in fact of the same kind, spiritually attracted to one another? No way! A confession! What? Please be more clear! You and I are destined for each other, and I have no intention of making things difficult for you. If you stop looking into matters here, I will teach you the Eight Ways of Entangling Silk. This art can entangle and restrict your enemy's movement, as if trapped in a swamp. How can you give me such a unique martial art? My interest in you is worth it. Someday, I want to see the real you. The Eight Ways of Entangling Silk is a Fist technique that debuffs opponents and require a Calm talent tree. Of course, obtaining this sutra requires Siwang to let this guy go...  Indecisively, Siwang runs away and finds a nice piece of ore in the mountains. This Xuan Ice is cold, but not as cold as my blood was after that guy made me that offer. Maybe I shouldn't have let him out. Maybe he was like that man from the story you told me... the Count of Monte Cristo? Or maybe he was exactly what he appeared to be, a serial killer locked up for the good of society. The Qingtian Society are delusional, but even idiots can have a good idea from time to time. He was still singing to himself when we left. You gonna accept his offer, Brother Siwang? I don't know, man, I don't know.  Since he's in the area, Siwang also drops by the White Horse Residence, and picks up the carrot he planted so many days ago.  As the note on the rooftop said, he feeds Red Mane the carrot and the horse allows him to take a sutra that has been hidden in the saddle.  Even Fairies Thirst for Wealth is a Qinggong sutra with two useful abilities. One boosts AP per turn but decreases defense, and the other is a passive that increases the chance of stealing.  While Siwang is here, he also pickpockets Flying Snow on the Waves off Li Tan. Like all the companion sutras, you will get this sutra for free when Li Tan joins. But judging by the lack of votes for his quest, it's not happening anytime soon, and I want to train Siwang's Qinggong up.  Flying Snow on the Waves is a Qinggong sutra with an ability that boosts Qinggong for slightly more than Wild Goose Walk, and also a nasty kick that scales with distance moved. It's a great opener for distant enemies if you have the AP.  Finally, after a two-day journey, Siwang arrives at the Duan manor in Dayan Town.  The door guard sprints inside to announce Duan Siping's return.  Dong Jialuo is the Duan family advisor and welcomes Duan Siping back.  Duan Siliang, Duan Siping's little brother, is also very happy to see his brother back safe.  Duan Siping introduces Siwang to everyone, and reports that Gongshi Village has agreed to supply the Duan family troops with food. Brother Duan, I still don't quite understand what's going on with the Nanzhao Rebellion. I am sorry I could not explain to Brother Siwang on our journey here. In fact, this humble self was a founding general of the Nanzhao Kingdom, but alas, after the founding, I was condemned by the Yang family and forced to flee the country. A founding general! So powerful! It was with the help of General Duan that the King of Nanzhao, Yang Tianning, and his brother Yang Tianyi, expelled the Wolf Barbarians and established a kingdom. If Mr Dong hadn't contacted the Mu Clan for help, my brother and I would have been imprisoned or even executed by now. I was unaware of Yang Tianning's ruthlessness, and helped him establish a tyranny. Now I have escaped with my life, perhaps the gods have given me a chance to atone for my sin. The Duan family is seeking out each major faction in the country for heroes to form an army to attack Nanzhao, and save the people from the Yang family's tyranny. My brother and I already have the support of the Mu Clan and Gongshi Village, we will continue to recruit other tribes and overthrow the Yang family's oppression!  Brother Siwang, will you join us and work together to save the people of Nanzhao? (Leaving aside the matter of returning home, how can I leave the people in the lurch?) If Siwang refuses to help, Duan Siping is disappointed but offers his guest bedroom for Siwang to rest in and think it over. In either case, Duan Siping leaves the party.  If Siwang agrees to help, Duan Siping not only has Duan Siliang lead Siwang to the guest bedroom, but also Siliang will ask to spar with Siwang  Siwang agrees to help Duan Siping out and takes the opportunity to trade pointers with Duan Siliang, who is not very good at fighting and even less so when being attacked by a large white tiger.  Duan Siliang congratulates Siwang on his win and admits that he is not very good at the Duan family's Southern Sky Momentum. Like a pouncing leopard, Siwang persuades Siliang to teach him this technique.  Southern Sky Momentum is a Qinggong technique that buffs special move point accumulation and debuff resist. It's fairly marginal for 3 AP, but sometimes you just want to buff up and wait for the enemy to run towards you.  It's still morning though, far too early to go to sleep. Siwang wanders around the Duan manor and briefly eyes the old lady supervising morning drills. Big brother, no. I was just wondering... No! Naughty boy! Good work, Ning'er. But old women like her are most likely to have a sutra hidden away somewhere... Brother Siwang, Duan Siliang literally just taught you the Duan family's secret technique of maintaining a stable footing in combat. Oh alright, then.  Wow, even the maid is carrying a bow. The bow? Who cares about the bow? Look at that meat cleaver she's gripping! Chopping meat and chopping people aren't too different, actually. It's just removing the flesh from the bones, in the end it's all the same. drat, the Duan family must be really loaded if they can leave this giant golden mace just lying around.  There's also a chest on the Duan manor roof. The mysterious Gentlemen of the Beam strike again!  Getting up on top of the Duan manor roof also means that Siwang can jump into one of the guard towers of Dayan Town, where he finds this... recreational document. Presumably the guard archer is flipping through it while on shift.  Why does this kind of thing always happen when we come to Dayan Town? Big brother! Throw that filthy thing away! No way! It's gotta be worth something to the right collector. Besides, it's really tame as far as these things go, let me tell you about this other book, the Lusty Argonian Maid... Siwang finishes exploring the Duan manor rooftops and heads to the town blacksmith, who has completed the masterwork blade he wanted two cold iron for.  Cold Moon Flowing Light: "Blacksmith Kebi's masterpiece is made of cold iron. Although named after Li Bai's famous poem, it is still a cleaver in nature, and can be used for cutting people, vegetables and meat."  What's wrong with a kitchen knife? You can slash at an enemy and cut vegetables in normal times. When you're busy, you can chop people and then chop vegetables, so you don't waste any time. Where can you find such a practical weapon other than a cleaver? Siwang is conned into buying Cold Moon Flowing Light, which is a waste of money because no one in the party uses Short or Blade weapons. He also makes some cold iron armor, which is basically just as good as the Gold Vest Luo Yuanyu is wearing. You know, I really should return that Gold Vest to the old man sometime soon. What's the hurry? He was going to give it to his grandson, you think a little kid is getting beaten up more than me?  Continuing on his tour of Dayan Town, Siwang finds this Mu Clan nobleman outside the town pharmacy, looking for a Pristine Snow Lotus.  He introduces himself politely to Siwang. The medicine seller warns Siwang to be polite, but Mu Chu (Ade Achu) waves off the formality since Siwang is a traveler from afar.  Mu Chu is a very polite and humble young man, unlike his second brother. Unfortunately, the Pristine Snow Lotus he is looking for is not in stock, but the medicine seller assures him he will go and pick one himself.  He also has a third brother, Ade Ake, who is apparently very skilled with a bow.  Siwang offers to go the mountains to pick the Snow Lotus instead, for some money. The medicine seller is reluctant, but Siwang deploys his silver tongue.  You might freeze to death, or get bitten by wolves, or poisoned by insects, or you may even climb up halfway and fall due to exhaustion... Alright, alright! You bastard, don't curse me to death, it's just a little bit of money anyway. Outside the He Family horse gang building, the local teashop owner is complaining that his shipment of tea is late, and asks to speak to the boss, Big Pot Head.  Siwang is passing by and asks a local for more background. It seems that a caravan being escorted by the He Family horse gang disappeared a month ago without trace, including the youngest son of the He family.  Missing for a month already? He must have met some unfortunate fate... Unfortunately for Siwang, He Yuqing is nearby and takes offense at the implication that her brother is dead.  Luckily a senior member of the He Family horse gang stops her, and apologizes to Siwang for Yuqing's impulsive behaviour.  He tells Siwang that Big Pot Head is elsewhere and unavailable, which prompts Siwang to think to himself that he should look for clues from the people of Dayan Town, if he wants to ask Big Pot Head about the Book of Heaven.  There's a fortune teller who has set up shop at the path leading to the pagoda, behind the pharmacy.  There's a long queue to consult him and Siwang joins the end, which triggers a cutscene.  Alas, you have a blood blade in your life, which has risen to prominence this year, so there will be a bloody disaster in the near future. How can I avert it? The face of evil has been revealed, there is no solution, no escape. I'll smash your ancestral tablets! What a fraudulent sorcerer! Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Alas, if one's heart is not sincere, and one's deeds are not good, bad luck is not far away. Still babbling nonsense? For the sake of the people, I'll put an end to your evil ways! The angry customer draws his sword and sends everyone in the queue fleeing. A few seconds later, an angry white tiger bites him repeatedly and he receives a souped-up Nokia 3310 directly to the forehead. It's really not his lucky day.  With the queue now gone, Siwang can sit down for a short chat with the fortune teller.  This boosts his Qi slightly.  At the base of the pagoda, a children's toy peddler has set up shop. Continuing the imperial tax collector sidequest, Siwang asks him for information on the notorious bandit the imperial tax agent is chasing. After a brief detour to buy some antiques for him, he coughs up a time and location.  Siwang returns to the imperial tax collector with the information, and he gives Siwang the entire reward for the arrest of the bandit  This is the whole reward, what about yourself? I... I had agreed with Tan that this mission would be our last, and that we would retire together when we got back. I never expected Tan to... The reward no longer matters to me, my only goal is to arrest Xian Yu Ping, and let Brother Tan's spirit rest in heaven. The bandit will appear at the Dayan Town bridge at 8pm, so Siwang passes the afternoon by hunting wild animals. This pushes his Qinggong to over 70, which has the side effect of making him run faster in a sort of gliding fashion, and also unlocks the ability to run over water.  Just before 8pm, Siwang returns to Dayan Town, where the notorious bandit is waiting for the tax agent.  Naturally, Siwang joins in the fight against Xian Yu Ping, who has two Spear techniques, "The Lone Star of Salmon", and "Fallen Hair and Haunted Zen". They both sound oddly terrifying.  Justice prevails and Siwang loots the Wand of Madness sutra from Xian Yu Ping's corpse. Both techniques scale with unrestrained, but Siwang has an absolutely terrible Spear score, so he won't be getting much use out of this sutra.  While he's at the bridge, Siwang asks this random beggar if he's seen Big Pot Head. The beggar agrees to lead Siwang to Big Pot Head for a small sum of money.  Surprise! It's a mugging, which ends predictably even without Duan Siping around.  It's been a long day of sidequesting and Siwang can't muster up the energy to finish this guy off. He lets him go instead.  Returning to the Duan manor, Siwang takes a well-deserved rest. Or at least, he tries to.  Ahhhh! Assassins! Protect the General! Brother Duan! Hmong woman! You have allied with the Nanzhao Yang family? Don't blame me, Duan Siping, my darling is thinking of your head every day and night. I'm here to get it, to please him.A wild cliffhanger has appeared! In the meantime, please vote for Siwang to either accept the creepy jail escapee's offer, and take the Eight Ways of Entangling Silk sutra, or reject his offer and continue the investigation into the missing occupants of the cottage.
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Mar 23, 2023 16:29
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SIGSEGV posted:Also, out of curiosity, the Hmong woman has the same family name as the Horse Gang family, I don't know how relevant that is and it might just be a name collision. Good catch! I had to look this up, they're different characters, the horse gang He is 禾 and the Hmong tribe He is 何. If I were an antiquated old geezer, I'd go on a rant on how romanization (i.e. Hanyu Pinyin) has destroyed the beauty and grace of the Chinese language, but I wasn't born a hundred years ago so I'll pass.
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Mar 24, 2023 02:31
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Update 27: Return of Snake Lady I didn't recognize you at the Snake Cave earlier, but today I've made all the preparations neccessary for your head. Darling Yang has helped me to arrange so many helpers, you won't be able to escape this time. Do you mean Yang Tianning, king of Nanzhao? The Hmong tribe also suffer under Nanzhao's tyranny, why do you help evil and kill your own people? Yang Tianning? I only care about my darling, I'm not interested in other guys. I see... I know who this darling must be. When will reinforcements from the Mu Clan arrive? A messenger escaped successfully, but I estimate it will take at least fifteen minutes for enough troops to gather. Well then, Jialuo, you haven't let your martial arts slacken, have you? Do not worry about me, General. I can defend myself. Heyyy... you two are grown men, could you stop whispering to each other? I want to hear too. You're mistaken if you think you can take me with just these men! If you want to touch Brother Duan, you'll have to go through me first! Hahaha! Let's see how long you can survive my poison and my allies! Combat begins. Duan Siping must survive, although given that he already has a Qi score of 100+, he could probably solo this battle.  Ugh... you're really tough. Duan Siping, spare me the effort and just come quietly with me, alright? As a Hmong tribeswoman, you should aid your people and fight with me against Yang Tianning! Didn't I just say, other people don't mean anything to me? So... a renegade? (the sound of horses and soldiers approaching) General, the troops from the Mu Clan have arrived! Tch... well, I couldn't catch the big fish, so I'll just have to take the small fry back to my darling Yang. Small fry...? Who did you capture? General Duan is so clever, figure it out yourself. Wait! He Baishao jumps away, leaving Duan Siping to interrogate the guards and find out that his younger brother, Duan Siliang, has been kidnapped.  Duan Siping orders his guards to search Dayan Town for his brother. Siwang, on the other hand, has his priorites straight and starts looting the bodies.  Jialuo, gather your men and find that Hmong woman as soon as possible. I fear the one behind all this is Yang Tianning's younger brother, Yang Tianyi. Yang Tianyi has always been smooth and honeyed with both word and sword. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, it is no wonder the Hmong woman was charmed into going astray. And also... these black-clothed assassins are well-trained, when did an ordinary military officer such as Yang Tianning recruit these people? I can answer that. Do you recognize these killers? Look. A wolf's head token. These assassins belong to the NoMercy House, who are searching for the Book of Heaven. Then is there a connection between the Book of Heaven, and the conflict between the Duan family and the Nanzhao Kingdom? If the NoMercy House has involved themselves, it is all but certain. Still, the important thing now is to find and save Duan Siliang as soon as possible. Thank you, Brother Siwang. Jialuo, I will work personally with Brother Siwang to track down the Hmong woman. I will stay on the move, to confuse the pursuit of any further assassins. Our first step must be to ask the people of Dayan Town if they have seen this Hmong woman. This random noodle enjoyer claims to have seen a Hmong girl by the lake in the mountains to the east.  But first Siwang returns to the deserted cottage in the north and refuses the offer made to him by Han Niba, the Bloodthirsty Manslaughterer. It wasn't an easy choice, but Siwang has more fist sutras than he can count, so he is only 33% tempted by the Eight Ways of Entangling Silk sutra.  Han Niba puts up a respectable struggle even though he is badly outnumbered.  Unfortunately, he has plot armor and flies off after losing the fight.  A sadly sutra-less Siwang reports to the old man, who is devastated by the news that his niece is likely dead.  Feeling bad for him, Siwang rejects any payment and leaves Shijia Salt Estate.  Siwang then heads east towards the mountain lake but is distracted by two people picking flowers on the way there.  It turns out that the reason why the medicine-seller in Dayan Town can't get any Pristine Snow Lotus, is that these guys have been destroying all the Snow Lotus on the mountain so that they can sell their supply at inflated prices.  Siwang objects to this unfair business practice and moves to beat them up, but is interrupted by a giant snow leopard. The two scalpers jump off the cliff to escape.  Two eagle hunters arrive once the snow leopard has been tenderized and object to the treatment of their tribe's holy animal. It sure is a busy night on the mountain.  And then the chief of the eagle hunters joins in, although luckily he reprimands his subordinates for fighting Siwang, saying that Siwang had a right to self-defense.  Unfortunately, the eagle hunters were using poison-tipped arrows, and Siwang collapses.  He wakes up in a comfy tent, more or less recovered.  The chief of the eagle hunters apologizes to Siwang and introduces himself as Ade Ake, the third son of the Mu Clan.   Please continue to stay in our village for a few day if you wish. As for me, I must continue to track down the Snow Wing Eagle. Please take care. Siwang backtracks to the place he met the two scalpers, and jumps off the cliff in the same spot. Unfortunately, the two scalpers did not have protagonist powers, and did not survive the fall. Siwang takes a Pristine Snow Lotus from their bodies and gives them a proper burial.  There's a modded sutra just lying on a cliffside rock nearby.  The Hu Family Blade Art is averagely overpowered but has a gimmick of overcharging the Rigid special move accumulation rate, so it will do a lot of crits.  Couldn't you have done something about the poisoned arrows, Madam Cheng? I did. Ade Ake was very nice to us and I decided to let you sleep it off. I could have died! Stop being so timid, Siwang. If hunting poison were so lethal, the hunters wouldn't be able to eat their catch, would they? If anything, you got more sleep than the rest of us did. And I had to lug your heavy rear end up a mountain too. While the tent was... unfamiliar, after last night's attack, we were all glad for a safe place to rest. And if that Hmong woman is around here like that townsman said, you can probably expect more poison.  Oh no! Brother Siwang, hold your breath! Huh...?  You idiots ruined my plan! Our humblest apologies, Miss. Please forgive us, we mistook you for someone else. The sound of your footsteps scared off my little Hong'er! Do you dare to treat it as nothing with just a few words? Miss, this is indeed our fault, how then should we make amends? Hmm... I'll forgive you if you chop off one of your stupid legs as a gift. Alas, this one still has unfinished business, which requires me to keep a useful body. Please forgive me for not accepting your proposal. What... what happened? Did I faint? Who is this wild girl? It seems we have offended this lady by scaring off her "Hong'er". I believe Brother Siwang walked into a trap meant for it. Now she wants us to chop off one of our legs as punishment. What do you think, Brother Siwang? What? Are you kidding me? Hey, girl, don't you know people's legs don't grow back? I don't care! You're not leaving this cave with your legs intact! The Hmong girl starts a fight. Siwang is badly poisoned and out of internal power, but luckily Duan Siping is not affected, and neither is Southern Tyrant. Did I mention how OP Beastmaster Sutra is?  He Ziwan is only Rank 25 and falls easily. She has high Blade and Poison, but only mediocre Qi.  Phew, my legs are saved. Uuuh... two big men joining hands to bully a girl, aren't you ashamed of yourselves? Be fair! You're the one who wants to cut off our legs, this is called self-defense. Hey, man with the big words, you're looking for a Hmong woman? What do you want with her? Do you perhaps know her? She is good with poisons. Idiot, there are thousands of Hmong women good with poisons, how do you expect me to know them all? Anyway, you scared off my Hong'er, shouldn't you take responsibility? (Tch, just a moment ago you were so violent, but now you've discovered our fist is harder than yours, suddenly you're willing to speak reason.) It is indeed our fault for frightening off your pet, how may we help? Brother Duan, I can feel that something is off, please don't... No, Brother Siwang, we are at fault, so naturally we must do our best to find the pet that has been scared off. (Ugh, these people surnamed Duan, they're all the same. Once they see a beautiful young girl, they get all silly in the head...) Hong'er is a rainbow centipede and is hiding somewhere in this cave. In order to lure Hong'er out, He Ziwan needs Heartrot Grass, which grows in swamps, and she offers to accompany Siwang and Duan Siping to the swamp west of Gongshi Village.  Is it just me, or are there way too many of us following Siwang around? Exactly! Five people is the maximum for this level of difficulty! Great, this guy isn't just an idiot, he's also insane. Oh no, is he having an allergic reaction to the poison I set out for Hong'er? We'll just have to leave Ziwan in this cave then! ... I'll chase you down and poison you in your sleep. Some kind of diarrhea, I think. Wait. Siwang, if you're going to keep helping Duan Siping with his silly little war, I'm going to opt out. Madam Cheng, please. It is a righteous struggle against the tyranny of Yang Tianning. Oh really? You helped him gain the throne, and only noticed his evil when he backstabbed you? The way I see it, you were perfectly happy to turn a blind eye as long as it suited your ambitions. Until it bit you in the rear end. I... I cannot deny that I should have been more assiduous in rejecting the lesser evils that Yang Tianning committed. But at the time, I believed that a united Nanzhao would serve a greater good for all its people. Well, anyway, I'm not helping you fight this war. Siwang, if you need me again, I'll be at the Hidden Flower Cottage. Ning'er, try to keep him from falling into evil, will you? Yes Madam Cheng! (He's halfway there already though...)  He Ziwan is a slightly evil Clever Blade user who comes with a unique Jasper Snake Blade technique. There are two techniques, each buffed by a specific weapon, and the capstone technique is a dual-strike using both weapons. Unfortunately He Ziwan only comes with one of those weapons, and it's unupgraded, so Siwang gives her the Cold Moon Flowing Light as a stopgap. Do you seriously expect me to fight with a meat cleaver? You wanted to chop off my legs a while ago. I thought this would do better than that dirty blade you have. It's poison. Poison! How can a mere kitchen tool compare to Sin Feather? Can Sin Feather chop vegetables as well as Cold Moon Flowing Light? It's made of cold iron. What kind of idiot makes a cleaver out of cold iron? A butcher specializing in cold cuts. ... ... You are finding me some blue marble and we are using it to upgrade Sin Feather as soon as possible. Yes ma'am. There is also a skeleton with a modded sutra and weapon resting nearby. The Purple Gold Bagua Knife is actually slightly inferior to Cold Moon Flowing Light.  No prizes for guessing what kind of technique the Nine Yin White Bone Claw sutra teaches.  On the way to Gongshi Village Siwang stops briefly to admire the Mu Clan manor, slightly to the east of Dayan Town.  He stops by the Dayan Town market square to give Bu Seishou, the repentant bandit and wannabe chef, the recipe for tofu pudding. Bu Seishou thanks Siwang and asks for another recipe involving a bear paw, to be obtained from the Fancy Feast Hall.  Right next to him are two members of the He Family horse gang, who tell Siwang that He Yuqing is somewhere south of the Mu Clan manor.  Siwang stops by the medicine-seller to give him the Pristine Snow Lotus.  Mu Chu thanks Siwang and invites him to visit the Mu Clan manor, giving him a token to do so.  There's also a vegetable seller fast asleep in the market square.  If Siwang moves to touch his vegetables he will scream bloody murder and every merchant in the market square will aggro on Siwang.  And if any civilian dies in the ensuing battle, it's a game over for Siwang. I had to reload and disable the two tiger companions because they kept attacking the merchants.  After five turns of running away, the town guard arrives and reprimands the vegetable seller. Just in time! This thief tried to steal my vegetables! Not you again? How many times has this happened this month? But... it's a real villain this time... Yeah right! You were napping again and accused an innocent man!The vegetable seller then gives Siwang two cabbages in apology. As unprofitable encounters go, this has got to be way up there.  Eventually, Siwang makes his way to the swamp and finds the Heartrot Grass, fighting off crocodiles all the while.  Hey, dumbass! Hong'er's cave is to the east, why are you headed northwest? Whoops. I wanted to show you this neat abandoned temple, but this is Tianlong Temple. I must have headed too far west. Moon Goddess help me, not again with the abandoned temples... Still, it's weird that Tianlong Temple is crawling with Nanzhao troops. I will ask Dong Jialuo to investigate. In the meantime, let us concentrate on repaying our debt to Miss He. Beautiful, isn't it? The moonlight adds a certain pathos to the bandit corpses. You certainly know how to show a girl a good time. This cleaver is actually pretty useful. I loved the way you dismembered that bandit! Oh, and I think we can salvage that vest he was wearing. I can't tell if he's being a bad influence on her, or if it's the other way around. I think it's both.  A second gold vest dropped from the bandits camped around the abandoned temple. I didn't even know that was possible. Since the original vote was tied between keeping and returning the gold vest, Siwang will now return the original to the old man instead of keeping both. This is actually an immense stroke of luck because the reward for returning the gold vest is a Hidden Weapons sutra. Words cannot describe the relief I felt when the vote tied instead of going for keeping the vest.  Oh, and while we're near Gongshi Village, there's something I want to check out. I had a vision while I was poisoned by the eagle hunters. Okay, speaking as an expert in poison, it is totally inadvisable to rely on anything you see while poisoned. Dumbass. Brother Siwang moves in ways mysterious to mortal men, and he has not yet led us astray. Let's just go see what Big Brother wants to show us.  It's a cave. Amazing. And it's way too small to squeeze into, so it's a useless cave. Ah, but if you contort yourself into this very specific shape and enter the cave, you will find something amazing on the other side! Moon Goddess! My eyes! Arrgghh! What the hell did you get us into? Wow. I thought it was just rock all the way down, but this... Truly, adventuring with an outlander never fails to bring new wonders to this humble self. What do you mean, outlander?  So, you're from another world? Yep. I'm trying to get home, but I need this thing called the Book of Heaven first. Normally I'd call you mad, but it looks like the world has gone mad too.  Are we in the underworld? How come we can still see the sun? And the trees? Don't worry, we're just temporarily out-of-bounds. Look, there's a tree to the north. Perhaps this is some sort of shared vision or dream, brought on by cthonic vapours. Keep telling yourself that if you think it helps. How can there be a monk here? It must be our feeble minds, trying their best to comprehend some sort of benign cosmic horror far beyond mortal understanding. Yeah, makes sense. He's offering to take us out of this place? Well, what are you waiting for? Do it! I must confess, I have never been so relieved to smell horse excrement before. You said it, Brother Duan. Let's head to the inn, I need a stiff drink. We ALL need a stiff drink. And the madman's paying after making us go through that. Hey! Nothing happened to you guys! Nothing other than having our perception of reality completely shattered, you mean. What was that even for? We didn't pick up anything, no earth-shaking weapons or mind-bending sutras. I... I'm a little better at martial arts now. Moon Goddess have mercy, is this my punishment for not listening to my elders? Maybe I should have left with Madam Cheng.  This remarkable trip nets Siwang an achievement worth three talent points.  As night falls, Siwang leaves Gongshi Village, and runs across this poor lover. Please help me, young warrior! I had promised to elope with someone to Jincheng, but the promised time has arrived, and she is not here. Wow! Elopement! (Elopement? That's not something to be trifled with, in this day and age...) I don't dare to return to the village to look for her, young master, can you please help me? Her name is Xiaodie, she helps out in the fields by weeding grass and harvesting rice.  Hello, brother, have you seen a girl named Xiaodie? You mean my wife. What? What's going on? Tell me who sent you first. It was a man named Tian. So it was him! Tian came to our village a few months ago in distress. We took him in, and he helped us plow the field. I even became sworn brothers with him, I thought we were the same! He must have lured my wife into a relationship with his sweet words... That bitch would rather die than reveal the identity of the man she was in love with! So I beat her to death.  This hatred still burns! I would pay a large sum of money for a warrior to remove this Tian guy.Should Siwang accept the hit job? Please vote: - Accept, but warn Tian instead - Accept, and kill Tian - Accept, but only for double the money - Wash your hands of the matter and walk away. sandorius fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Mar 27, 2023 |
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Mar 27, 2023 17:11
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SIGSEGV posted:
Fixed, thank you!
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Mar 27, 2023 20:49
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Update 28: They're Sisters Siwang returns to Tian and breaks the bad news to him - Xiaodie is dead, beaten to death by her husband. He also scolds Tian for not telling him that Xiaodie was married.  Tian is naturally distressed by the news.  He asks Siwang to just kill him.  Never mind! I'm not going to bother! You can just cry here for the rest of your life! I'm going back to earn some extra money, don't go back to the village, understand? It's a good thing I didn't kill anyone. At least I've earned some money to compensate for the fact that I got caught up in this mess. Poor Siwang is in for a nasty shock when he goes back to the angry husband, though. Do you take me for a fool? Just to tell you, I sent someone to follow you. By now, Tian is probably dead in a ditch somewhere! You can't be trusted, now get the hell out of here! Get out!A fairly unsatisfying end to a minor sidequest. If Siwang had attacked Tian, he would have gotten paid, but become more evil. There is, however, another way to resolve this sidequest, which I was not aware of at the time, otherwise I wouldn't have put it up for vote.  Remember this unidentified female corpse from Update 7? It turns out I took a screenshot of it but forgot to interact with it. That sends this sidequest down a slightly different route, in which the angry husband never even gets to offer Siwang money for Tian's head.  This... you Han people are too cruel! I should put a parasite on you! (Clubbed to death? Then the female body I found in the graveyard under the cliff earlier, was that his wife?) You beat your wife to death and then just left her in the wilderness? What does that have to do with you? That bitch deserved to die! drat, I can suddenly understand why your wife would want to leave you at the drop of a hat. A rude and unreasonable villain like you deserves to die!So canonically Siwang is fine with domestic murder but draws the line at neglecting the proper burial rites? He might be a murderhobo, but at least he's a civilized murderhobo.  Xiaodie is dead. I have nothing to say about your adultery, but Xiaodie is now lying in a shallow grave somewhere under the cliff. I... see. Thank you for telling me. I'll go help her clean up the mess. Siwang is a bit unnerved by Tian's hollow farewell, and checks up on Xiaodie's location. Unsurprisingly, Tian has killed himself.  Siwang buries the bodies together in a proper mound, and offers a brief prayer to the two unfortunate souls.  There is a small achievement for doing this - "Flower Fields": You helped Tian reunite with the flower-catching butterfly.  Mood slightly somber, Siwang heads east to the old man who lost his grandson's gold vest in a gambling debt. At this point, he's been waiting here for about two weeks, and he rewards Siwang with a book.  What kind of book? No wonder you lost all ten bets, carrying a book on you.This is a pun in Chinese, "book" is a homonym to "lose".  Nine Strokes of the Heavenly Characters is a Yin-aligned Hidden Weapons sutra with a massive final attack that costs 8 AP. More importantly, the passive nodes will bump Siwang's Hidden Weapon skill over 80.  This will finally let him learn from the "Flying sand in the sky" sutra, which he picked up from the man-eating bear's cave, all the way back in Update 12. "Raining all over the sky" is actually an AOE attack.  On the way back to Hong'er's cave Siwang runs into He Yuqing again. Ye Yulong here is from a rival horse gang and is gloating over the He family horse gang's recent misfortunes.  Stop gloating, Ye whatsyourname, what do you want? Why so cold? I'm really worried about you, Little Miss He. Yeah, our young master is so worried about you he hasn't been eating well recently, look at how skinny he is. It must be true love! Ye Yulong taunts He Yuqing about her missing brother, who is apparently adopted? But He Yuqing has noticed Siwang eavesdropping.  Hey! You over there, you know how to help an old woman being robbed but you can't help a beautiful girl being accosted by ruffians? What's wrong with you? Beautiful girl? I don't see one though? Siwang gets drawn into a fight with Ye Yulong and his buddies. He Yuqing joins in as an ally, which counts as a refreshing change of pace from the last two times.  Ye Yulong drops a Rainbow Sword sutra, which must be embarrassing for him. According to some random dudes drinking beer in the tavern, it's the Ye family heirloom. Hey, are you the daughter of the He family boss? I'm looking for your father. Why am I even speaking to you? As a thank you for helping you get rid of a couple of tangled, boring men? I could have managed without your help! But you seem to be pretty good at fighting so if you help me out a little I'll think about taking you to see him. Help? With what? Don't worry about it, just come with me to the Eagle Hunter camp to the northeast. I'd love to come with you, but I have too many friends... Then you can figure out your own way to find my father! Goodbye! Shelving his plans to recruit He Yuqing for now, Siwang returns to the mountain lake cave, and uses the Heartrot Grass to lure out Hong'er.  The large centipede comes out to feed, but an unexpected guest joins in. Oh my, little sister, you've come all the way from home to bring Hong'er to me. Thank you so much! Big sister! Hmmm... I had suspected they knew each other, but to think that they were sisters... It just happens that my darling Yang is practicing our tribe's Secret Book of Ultimate Poison, and needs to absorb the venom of the Seven-Coloured Centipede. I'm so touched that you brought Hong'er all the way from home, little sister. How would I have lured you out if not for Hong'er? Big sister, let's go home. Even if you stole our sacred book, you know mother loves us well, she will definitely forgive you. Oh? Knowing that woman, she has already ordered you to take my life and take back both the Book of Heaven and the Secret Book of Ultimate Poison. Why do you think she would spare me? Mother knows you're just under the spell of that Yang bastard. She'll forgive you for sure! Oh sister, why are you so naive? That woman only cares about the Book of Heaven, the only one who cares about me is my darling Yang! Just give me Hong'er and go home. I don't want to fight you.  No! I won't go back unless my sister joins me! Hmmm... in that case, let us see if your poisoning skills have improved since I last saw you. He Baishao enters combat with two mooks and one "Chief of the Nanzhao Army". General Duan, I have always admired your character, but today you are the enemy of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Surrender and return to face Lord Yang's judgement. As a soldier of Nanzhao, I respect your right to try and make me. The two Hmong sisters also pause midfight for an extended duologue. Sister, that's enough, please stop! I don't want to fight you anymore! Mother's always been thinking of your own good, she's definitely not as vicious as you say! Please, will you come home with me? Home? Home, you say? Hahaha! Hahaha... you're wrong. That's no home, just a nest of parasites! Do you know how many poisonous insects she made me suffer with, in order to improve my poison training? Can you even imagine? If I hadn't stolen the Secret Book and purged all the parasites from my body, I would still be a doll in that woman's hands today! Sister... I had no idea... Ah my naive little sister... you have your free will, only because you are not the heir to the chieftainship. If you want to go back and continue and be that woman's doll, then that is your choice. But as for me, I've already made up my mind. What I want, what my darling Yang gave to me, is He Baishao's freedom! Miss He, this humble Duan has a word of advice for you: Yang Tianyi is a man of honeyed words and a sword in his belly, if you trust him, you will die like a dog! Look, I've seen this kind of drama many times, OK? This Yang guy is probably trying to use you, where is he even? Is he hiding behind you, reluctant to even show his face?  Well said! Yang Tianyi! Darling, what are you doing here? You're still poisoned... Baishao, it doesn't matter, even if I'm injured, how can I let you risk your life for me? I will not let them hurt you. Darling... drat, knock it off, you two. Yang Tianyi, what is your relationship with the NoMercy House? Do you have the Book of Heaven? Oh? An outlander? That's right, I have a fragment of the Book of Heaven! He Yudie betrayed the NoMercy House many years ago, and stole it from them! You mean... Mother? What are you talking about? What NoMercy House? What Book of Heaven? Haha! Go back and ask your mother about the dirty deeds she committed as part of the NoMercy House, so many years ago! Of course, you'll have to live through this battle first... Darling! Just trying to scare her off, dear. Don't worry, I keep my promises.  Yang Tianyi, tyrant of Nanzhao! Today, I save the people from a great evil! Traitor Duan Siping, today, I will take your life! Yang Tianyi joins the fight with a few more Nanzhao soldiers, but is easily beaten.  No, this poisonous power, it's not enough? I can't die here... He Baishao! The fight's not going well, let's withdraw! Let's go, darling! Don't fret, once you've mastered the Seven-colored Poison, neither of these fools will be able to match you! They ran away! Hmmm... Yang Tianyi used to be but a mediocre martial artist. He has improved extraordinarily since I last met him. Of course he has, my sister stole our tribe's secrets and must be helping him practice them. drat, they even took Hong'er, if he masters the Seven-colored Poison... Speaking of your sister, you lied to us! You said you didn't know her! It wasn't a lie! There really are thousands of Hmong maidens skilled in poison, and it's true that I can't be expected to know them all. It... it just happens that this one is my big sister. drat, you're good at twisting words... It's all the fault of that Yang guy, if I catch him, I'll nail him up and make him feel pain from the bones to the heart! (Wow, Hmong girls are still a bit chilling as always...) There is a great deal of plot exposition, and Duan Siping goes on a extended monologue on how it is his righteous duty to unite the tribes of Nanzhao and atone for the sin of not realizing Yang Tianning's evil. Pfft. So boring and serious, who cares if you want to atone for your sins or if it's your ambition to rise in position? Miss He, since it's our goal to find your sister and deal with Yang Tianyi, why don't we work together? Will you let me take my sister back? Of course. This humble Duan's only enemies are the Yang brothers. Heehee, a man's word is his bond, a promise is a promise. I'll help you deal with Yang Tianyi, and you help me bring my sister home. Let us return to the Duan manor and report to Jialuo. Hey dumbass, where are you going? The Duan manor is that way! I think I smell a randomly spawned sutra in Zhangren Village. What the hell? Are you high? Did my sister's poison affect you that badly? Wait... I'm having an odd sense of deja vu. You'll learn to roll with it if you spend any more time with this gang.  Big brother, could you stop stealing so much stuff? What are you even going to do with a big fan? Listen, Ning'er, I'm practically doing this guy a favour. This fan is poisonous! It's been used for years to fan the flames of the Chidan Palace. Assuming that's true and you haven't pulled that out of your rear end, then why is some random village farmer holding on to it? I haven't the faintest idea.  The Seven Stars Sword sutra technically belongs to a companion Siwang hasn't met officially, but it spawned on an NPC as part of the Jianghu rumor system and Siwang might as well pick it up now. Both Ning'er and Duan Siping have long since run out of sword sutras to study, so this is a welcome find.  Why did this guy even set up shop here? Who's going to come to a deserted island to buy his stuff? He doesn't want anybody to buy his stuff. Yeah, he gave us a bunch of ore to gently caress off. Speaking of which... Indeed. Why are we here, Brother Siwang? The last time I spent money at the blacksmith I got the feeling I should talk to this guy again.  There's an achievement for spending enough money at the blacksmith, which rewards Siwang with a token that this hermit will recognize. He will offer to craft a special weapon for Siwang, but only one.  Are we ever going back to Duan Manor, even? Just as soon as I visit that deserted island over there to the west. Isn't this one deserted enough for you? There's only a bunch of monkeys and bananas here. No, that one is more deserted, that's why I want to go there. Also, I can walk on water now. Big deal, we can all do it when we get good at Qinggong.  I thought you said you could walk on water! Look, I just ran out of stamina, alright? What a weak man you are... ugh, now I'm sopping wet. At least this shipwreck seems to have some decent wine.  Poor guy, cut down before he could take one last drink... Cut down... by who? Or by what? I wish you hadn't asked that question.  Oh? A statue of the local land god? Let us pay the proper respects. Lord, please bless the poor fool who made us all come here but overestimated his own stamina. Mother always told me men have these problems, please help. (Lord, please bless big brother with endurance, I have the feeling Ziwan is going to poison him out of sheer exasperation soon.) Wow! I do feel lighter on my feet!  Is that the third bronze statue we've come across? Fifth, I think. Abandoned shack in the swamp, on top of the weird monk's mountain, another one on an icy mountain somewhere and then one more in a cave. I wonder who's making these things?  Hmmm... another skeleton. There's a journal too, says something about Monkey Three. Is that the monster the other dead guy wrote about, on Banana Island? There's a strange mechanism here that opens a cave next to the shipwreck.  There's a giant ape lurking inside the cave, but luckily since Siwang has read the journal, he calls it by name and it responds.  It turns out that Monkey Three can understand human language, and even speak to an extent. It's in hiding because it feels guilty about killing people.  Siwang asks to learn monkey martial arts from Monkey Three, and also offers to take it off the island and travel together.  White Ape Catching Arrows has mixed Qinggong/Fist passive nodes and teaches a 5AP buff that has a small chance to gain 3AP when attacked. It might be useful for solo characters, but for someone with a big party like Siwang, it doesn't seem very useful.  Having explored Monkey Island, Siwang heads back to the mainland. He still doesn't have enough stamina to make it all the way back waterwalking, so he has to swim a little.  Hey, this is the Fancy Feast Hall, isn't it? Why don't we stop for a meal? Because the Fancy Feast Hall is a cover for a secret organization that wants me to help save the country, and I don't have the time for it right now. What I do have time for is this amazing lady who gave me the Beastmaster Sutra a few weeks ago.Ji Meixiang of the Hundred Beasts Villa congratulates Siwang on taming Widowmaker.  She suggests Siwang try taming White Stripe next, a crocodile at the river mouth to the north. She will be moving on to the Enchanted Water Village and asks Siwang to meet her there with White Stripe. Hahaha! She called you 'handsome boy'! Yeah, that's pretty much the reason we have ten different animals following us around right now. Big brother is easily manipulated into doing things with only a little praise. How sad... I'm right here, you know. Oh come on, a big strong man like you should be able to handle some teasing. Well... I see what you're trying to do and it's not funny.  Monkey Three is very intimidating but functionally not as dangerous as Southern Tyrant - the white tiger king inflicts trauma and also acts faster, which tends to make him a better tank.  Back in Dayan Town, Siwang visits the wine shop / tavern to see if he can sell the wine he picked up on Monkey Island. It turns out to be a normal trade good, but he picks up this delivery quest while there. This bard wants Siwang to pass a book on to the head of the Fancy Feast Hall.  Just outside Duan Manor, two gentlemen are pushing each other on top of a long bench, and several townspeople have gathered to watch.  The two are brothers in a dispute over their inheritance, and have decided to settle the ownership of their family house through an old-fashioned wrestling match. Siwang learns this because a townsman wants to bet on the outcome.  Oh man, I used to love watching pro wrestling on TV back in the day. But the table should be wider and there needs to be a folding chair in the middle. ... so that they can take a rest if they get tired? So that one of them can pick it up and hit the other guy with it. I love it already. The merchant brother triumphs over the scholar brother, and Siwang wins the bet. The townsman gives him a pair of Cold Crystals.  Back in Duan Manor, Duan Siping introduces He Ziwan to his advisor Dong Jiaoluo.  They are interrupted by a guard who says an abbot has come to see Duan Siping.  Abbott Jinding is from Tianlong Temple, which, as Siwang has just discovered, is crawling with Nanzhao soldiers. He is also not a martial artist.  He explains that the Nanzhao Kingdom had sent an embassy to Shu (presumably the country Siwang is in) and the government minister Du Jinpeng arranged for them to stay in Tianlong Temple, so as to keep a low profile.  The Nanzhao delegation has been getting more and more numerous, and bringing strange men in black to the temple. He is also very annoyed that a Hmong priestess has been frequenting the temple, calling it a real sin.  A few days ago, the Nanzhao troops brought back a prisoner, Duan Siliang, and Abbott Jinding spoke to him while feeding him. Since the abbott is not a martial artist, he was unable to fight the Nanzhao troops, but could only come to the Duan Manor to ask for help.  Abbott Jinding suggests that he return to Tianlong Temple and lure away the majority of the Nanzhao troops by saying that he discovered the whereabouts of Duan Siping to Yang Tianyi. A small party can then slip into the temple and rescue Duan Siliang. Duan Siping protests, saying that this will be dangerous for the abbott, but Abbott Jinding says that as a Buddhist he should not hesitate to save others.  Siwang speaks up and endorses the plan - he, Duan Siping and He Ziwan will go to Tianlong Temple and rescue Duan Siliang.  Abbott Jinding then gifts Duan Siping with an ancient Inner Workings sutra, saying that the monks of Tianlong Temple used to practice martial arts before devoting their time to the study of Buddhism. The sutra is better off in the hands of someone who can use it to expel the Nanzhao bandits.  Abbott Jinping! I will use this power to save the people of Nanzhao! Let's get ready to rescue Siliang, Brother Duan! We can't let the abbott's efforts go to waste, the Book of Heaven cannot be left in Yang Tianyi's hands! I will bring back my sister, and our tribe's secret book too! The Yang clan's guards will be distracted by Abbot Jinping's ruse, we will take advantage and launch a surprise attack. Kill anyone who gets in our way! Dong Jialuo, ready for orders! Siliang, wait just a little longer! We're coming!Well actually Duan Siliang will have to wait a little longer for ~reasons~. Siwang will do a little sidequesting in Dayan Town for now, but for now, let us consider what endgame weapon Siwang wants the hermit blacksmith to craft for him. Is the thread interested in seeing the weapon descriptions for each one? -Yes, I like reading weapon descriptions -No, just craft the fist weapon, it's what Siwang has been using as a backup -No, just craft the hidden weapon and stop using the Nokia 3310 -No, just craft (insert weapon type here) Specifically, the reason I'm holding off on going to Tianlong Temple is that once Duan Siping's quest is over, his default paladin programming kicks in and he will leave the party permanently once Siwang does anything evil or unrestrained. Which sucks if you want to do a certain endgame quest with him, but I think I can get him to the right level after grinding through a few more updates.
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Apr 1, 2023 17:33
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Update 29: Return to the Master Blacksmith and Suishin Island  Hmm... this is a profund sutra Abbott Jinping has left me. Eh, it just increases attack range. Doesn't your Simple talent tree already give you ridiculous reach? Indeed, but it could be even more "ridiculous", as you say. With this Inner Working, I think I could stab someone across half the battlefield. Could be useful against a poison user like Yang Tianyi. Yes, I shall study it carefully. It'll probably take a few days for the abbott to convince Yang Tianyi to send his troops away. What should we do in the meantime? I know just the place! Big brother, this is the Pretty Dream Pavilion. Yyy.. you! Why are you bringing me to a place like this? Chill out, I just wanted to talk to this poor guy standing in a corner by himself in a courtyard full of pretty ladies. So that rich guy hired you to write poetry on his behalf to Rong Yanxue? Alas, if I could only see her read my poetry just once and smile, even from afar. Even if she doesn't know it was I who wrote it... Man, you have it down bad. Have you tried fixing her printer for her? Big brother, this man is so pitiful, can't you help him somehow?  Poor Ming Xu has a crush on Rong Yanxue, who lives on the second floor of the Pretty Dream Pavilion. Now that Siwang has completed the murder mystery and gained the trust of Fan Xiaodie, he can come and go freely, so Ming Xu asks Siwang to pass Rong Yanxue a letter. Since the quest text refers to him as a poor scholar, I don't think Ming Xu is actually a prince. Maybe his surname is Wang(king) or Junzi(gentleman) or something like that.  I have a friend, who fell in love with a girl. He is talented, but his family is poor, and so he cannot approach her, and he spends all day in mourning. Well, she sounds like she values money greatly... wait, but if he hasn't approached her, how does he know she loves money and not talent. He wrote a letter to send to her, could Miss Yanxue take a look at it? Hmm... "In the meantime, the beauty of the wind, snow and moon, couldn't keep the beauty from scowling and frowning, I'm startled." This poetry... it refers to myself! Who wrote this letter? His name is Ming Xu, he is a man of great talent, but his family is poor, and he does not think he is worthy of a girl, so he is timid. Rong Yanxue likes the poetry, but asks Ming Xu to find a couple who would never part from each other, and swear before them to never fail her.  Ming Xu immediately thinks of the grocery store owners, who have been selling food together for many years. He asks Siwang to consult them for help.  The old man agrees to help but is skeptical that Ming Xu has not just fallen for Yanxue's looks. He suggests that Ming Xu give Yanxue a gift to prove his intentions. A gift? Yanxue is the most popular girl in the Pretty Dream Pavilion, she doesn't even like gifts from rich people like Xia Lu, how can Ming Xu give her something better? Young man, it's all about the giver's heart. If Ming Xu were to give her something that could express his feelings and move Yanxue, it would be worth more than a fortune. She wouldn't care about the material value. On the way back to the Pretty Dream Pavilion, Siwang drops by the teahouse to eavesdrop on a suspicious conversation.  The second son of the Mu Clan, Mu Kui, wants some Golden Melon Tea, but it has been stolen by a mysterious old man lurking around Karma Monastery. We've already met Mu Kui's brothers, the eldest son Mu Chu at the medicine seller's shop lookng for the Pristine Jade Lotus, and the youngest Ade Ake at the Eagle Hunter's Settlement. Apparently there's some kind of celebration coming up, and he wants the tea as a gift.  Siwang makes a mental note to search around Karma Monastery for the tea-stealing old man, as the teashop owner will probably reward him for finding the tea.  Returning to the Pretty Dream Pavilion, Ming Xu agrees to the gift idea, immediately recognizing it as a test from the old couple. But since he hasn't been able to talk to Yanxue, he asks Siwang to poke through Yanxue's room for clues.  Isn't this an egregious breach of Miss Yanxue's privacy? She's right in front of us, if we end up opening her underwear drawer by accident I'm sure she'll let us know. It's a good idea Mr and Mrs Chu had. I don't begrudge my mysterious suitor the chance to try and deduce my character from my humble belongings. Are you seriously thinking of eloping with him? I think it's romantic though? I think it's dumb. Why not just go with a rich merchant or something? Alas, I have entertained too many. Not a single one of them would cherish me when I grow old and frail, but discard me for a younger girl. Just threaten to castrate them with this dagger you have first. ... ... (subtly shuffles further away from He Ziwan) What? I'm just saying. Nothing to worry about if you're faithful. (Rong Yanxue has this dagger on the wall, is she confident in her own skill, or does she dislike carrying a weapon around?) This dagger is a weapon and a murder weapon. I don't like to hurt people, but I used this dagger to hurt Granny Situ, who taught me martial arts... most lamentable. This tea set looks quite plain, but it has seen frequent use. Miss Yanxue has not seen any visitors for quite some time, so she must use this tea set daily. Does it perhaps have some sentimental value for her? Maybe she is a passionate and unforgetting person, who never forgets her roots? There is a half-folded contemporary sheet music book on the table. Miss Yanxue must be very musically-inclined. The scent of roses and osmanthus flowers in this bath is so fragrant, it's no wonder that no one notices when they pass wind. I bet Miss Yanxue could make a fortune selling this bathwater. ... what? ... Moon Goddess help me, why must you be like this? Not me personally! Other people! It happened all the time where I came from... well, maybe not all the time. It is a most fascinating world you hail from, Brother Siwang.  Wow, this cypress gilded screen looks so expensive! It seems to be a fragrant story of a gentleman and a beautiful woman. Hmm... I don't know if Miss Yanxue is willing to give up and live a simple life with Ming Xu. Perhaps he should give her something valuable? How goes it? Do you have any suggestions for Miss Yanxue's gift? Well, after a little observation, I think Miss Yanxue treasures...- Money and possessions, you must guarantee her future life... - Wushu advancement, now that Granny Situ has left, she has no master! - One word, love, two words, affection.  And what do you think I should use to express... that I value all that she values? Hmm...- I see that it is precious gold and silver goods. - Probably something plain? - I think it should be something related to calligraphy, painting, or music.  Are you sure you told him the right thing there? No, not really. But look on the bright side, it should be pretty hilarious if he gets it wrong. Big brother! That's their future happiness you could be ruining! Listen, Ning'er, I did my best, but who's going to help him next time? I can't always be around to dispense my wisdom. Wisdom? How much experience in romantic relationships do you have exactly? ... Hey, look at my new outfit!Siwang changes out of the Duan Family outfit he found in the Duan manor and puts on a new costume obtained from the achievement for getting Hidden Weapons above 100. Sadly, it clips a little at the knee, but otherwise it blows the other costumes out of the water.  Stop avoiding the question, Siwang. Did you seriously make us run all the way out here to the west just because you're embarrassed? No! We need a white bear pelt for the master blacksmith! That's all! Five or less. Probably zero. I don't know whether to be appalled or relieved. Could we just drop the subject already?  Siwang finds a modded sutra on the way to the white bear habitat. Participating Fingers is a Fist technique that has slightly extended range (3 is maybe two person-widths) and requires talents from all six trees to fully master, like the starting sutras.  Siwang proceeds to beat up several white bears in search of a white bear pelt, which is unfortunately a random drop.  In the process he comes across a new Beast King! The Silver Palm Beast King, "Icebreaker Hammer". It is duly beaten up and tamed.  Siwang finds yet another modded sutra hidden inconspicously under a tree.  The Little Li's Flying Dagger sutra teaches an undodgeable Hidden Weapons technique.  White bear pelt finally in hand, Siwang heads east and drops by the Qingcheng Sect Monastery to talk to the horseman for future fast travel. Everybody is asleep so there's nothing else he can do for now. If he were righteous, he could get a free Inner Working sutra here, but the Qingtian Fortress strategy to grind righteousness seems to have sprung a leak. Nearly everyone in the Fortress is refusing to duel Siwang now.  There are now a bunch of crocodiles hanging out at the rivermouth near Banana Island, as the second mistress of the Hundred Beast Villa warned Siwang.  The Beast King she wanted Siwang to capture, the White Stripe Beast King, "Lord of the River", is here along with his friends. Crocodiles are sort of annoying to fight because of the "Waiting for a rabbit" talent, which immediately counterattacks when someone moves into their proximity. At least they don't do knockback like human spear users.  As per the last vote, here are the various weapons the master blacksmith can craft for Siwang. The fist weapon requires three pieces of black iron and a white bear skin, to be used to forge a tiger hand glove.  Plugging the required ingredients into the recipe gives Siwang... a green rarity weapon?  White bear skin Tiger Hand Protection: "Handguard with tiger's sculpted shape, heavy but with limited protection".  Turns out it's a mistranslation, the recipe needs basalt and not black iron.  Hundred Flame Arm Guard: "Invincible protector, invincible." Yeah, must have been a long day at the office when this item's turn to be described came up.  The sword requires a whopping eight pieces of basalt.  Hyper Iron Sword: "A powerful weapon made of pure basalt." Yep, someone was definitely low on brain juice. This description is just minimum effort.  The blade weapon requires six pieces of cold iron. Golden Crow Knife: "A sword made of black gold, with the user's powerful internal force, it is invincible." I'm sensing a theme here.  This blade is actually sort of ugly as well.  The spear weapon needs six pieces of rosewood to craft a fishing rod. Zi Wu Gan: "A mysterious fishing rod, powerful enough to be used by a master spearman."  The short weapon is a cleaver requiring three pieces of basalt, which can also be used as a blade. In fact, it does more damage than the Golden Crow Knife (272-280 dmg vs. 259-267 dmg). Pan Gu Chopper: "The legendary kitchen knife that can split the sky and the earth is also useful for cooking."  The hidden weapon needs two pieces of basalt and a rosewood to forge a flying dagger. Seeking Fling Blade: "The flying dagger of a certain mysterious swordsman, emitting a cold, cold light." I don't get the reference, unfortunately.  The bow needs five pieces of rosewood and a snow leopard tendon. Houyi's Bow: "The legendary bow that can shoot down even the sun." Fairly boring descriptions, all told. I was expecting more elaborate ones like the ones companion weapons have.  North of Banana Island is the Enchanted Water Village, where Ji Mei Xiang, the second mistress of the Hundred Beast Villa, is waiting for "Lord of the River". Her identical elder sister, Ji Mei Qing, is also there, and they have a brief argument.  Mei Qing is appalled that Mei Xiang has been letting an outsider like Siwang capture Beast Kings all over the country, while Mei Xiang says that there are a ton of Beast Kings around that only a strong fighter like Siwang can subdue.  Eventually, Siwang gets bored of the argument and offers to help the elder sister Mei Qing capture a Beast King of her own, in return for her acknowledging his taming of "Lord of the River".  The Beast King she has in mind is... a lion? What's a lion doing in China?  It has pretty fabulous hair too. The Golden Mane Beast King, "Legendary Beast King", is very tanky but ultimately succumbs to a combination of poison and sustained petting.  Since he's in the area, Siwang makes his way northeast to Suishin Island, to check on the progress of the reformed bandits there in rebuilding the village. On the way there he picks up this box, containing some money and a dragonball.  There are a few new prospective settlers on Suishin Island now, who need wood and ore to build facilities.  The village itself has been patched up, with the doors and roofs repaired by the reformed bandits.  The new settlers gather and welcome Siwang and Ning'er back to Suishin Island.  They thank Siwang for allowing them to settle here and proclaim him the "Island Master".  Ning'er is happy to let them stay here, and since this is technically her island, Siwang agrees. Big brother Siwang, let them stay, the island will be much more interesting with these people. Well, the island is owned by Ning'er, so whoever my little sister wants to stay, can stay, of course. Anyone who dares to make her unhappy will feel my wrath! Big brother is the best! The settlers move into the empty refurbished houses.  This farmer wants some money to hire temporary workers, to till the fields.  The reformed bandits and the perfume thief are back to their idle ways. Siwang leaves them alone, in recognition of their help repairing the village houses.  Being the Island Master comes with one perk: your very own bed and also a little sister to sing you a lullaby and wake you up. Brother, don't worry, you can sleep. Ning'er is with you. How about... Ning'er will sing you a song? (As Ning'er hums an old song, you feel your eyelids getting heavier and heavier.) Brother, you haven't even said what time you want to sleep. Ning'er will wake you up on time. This herdsman wants some wood, ore and a short axe to build a shed for the wild cattle on the island. Siwang has the wood and ore, but no axe. It might be a random weapon drop from bandits, or maybe Siwang can buy one from a blacksmith somewhere.  This lady is pining for some actual meat and eggs, as there are no pigs or chickens on Suishin Island. Hmm... I've got lots of pork in my inventory, but no eggs. Guess I'll have to head back to Gongshi Village. To buy eggs, right? ... To buy them, right!? You know how they feel about their chickens!  There is also an alchemist who has come to Sushin Island in search of the Tianshui Poison Toad. He has brought his daughter Tiantian along, and Ning'er gets along well with her.  Siwang persuades him that dealing with poisonous creatures is too dangerous and that he should spend more time with his daughter. He has been too obsessed with the toad to even replace his broken table, and he buys a new one, which makes his daughter happy.  Thank you, big brother. What are you thanking me for? You're the one playing with her, and it was her dad that bought the new table. Then why are you blushing? I didn't, you and little Tiantian are the same, I don't know what's going on in my head. Big brother! Ning'er's not a child anymore! Haha, of course you're not a child, you're my little sister! (Ning'er, if possible, I hope you'll be carefree for the rest of your life, and always as happy as you are today!)Duan Siping has yet to master Six Veins and Internal Meridians, so Siwang will be sidequesting in this general area for a while yet. In the meantime, please vote: What weapon should Siwang end up forging? - The fist weapon, as backup for when the Hammer of Thor fails - The fishing rod, for Luo Yuanyu to smack people with - The cleaver, for He Ziwan to dual wield with Cold Moon Flowing Light - The sword, to look cool (Siwang doesn't know any sword techniques) Should Siwang switch to a new Beast King companion? - Stick with Southern Tyrant - Switch to the giant ape Monkey Three - Switch to the white bear IB Hammer - Switch to the lion Golden Mane What does Rong Yanxue value, and what gift should Ming Xu get for Rong Yanxue? - A: Money and possessions, you must guarantee her future life... - B: Wushu advancement, now that Granny Situ has left, she has no master! - C: One word, love, two words, affection. - 1: I see that it is precious gold and silver goods. - 2: Probably something plain? - 3: I think it should be something related to calligraphy, painting, or music. sandorius fucked around with this message at 12:54 on Apr 8, 2023 |
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Apr 7, 2023 19:06
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